I wish that the line about possibly sending the new protocols to Alexandria and Legend's Shards hadn't been included, given Prosthetic's reaction to the Standard Information Packet. I meant to mention something about it during the voting period, but I kept being distracted by the discussions over other votes instead. I'm really hoping that we have an action economy vote in the future because it's hard to keep track of all of the votes, and plans have to be opposed by voting against them instead of just not voting for them.
[HALP] me! (WORM quest)
- Thread starter Vhalidictes
- Start date
KidFromPallet
Pokemon Fan
- Location
- Pallet Town
This is pretty much why I started to lurk instead of vote. Too many confusing plans, and I had no idea what was happening when.
- Location
- Florida, USA
Yeah, I have a plan to start a post doing a running tally after the next chapter drops so we have an idea of what's be voted for/against.
It doesn't help that a lot of ideas aren't mutually exclusive so tend to kludge together. I'll try to give them all an easy tag, [Shift - 1] example, that people can just vote for/against. IE:
[X] [Shift - 1] For
or
[X] [Shift - 1] Against
Then it should hopefully be a bit easier to see what's doing what and the tally won't be five or six similar plans just with or withholding certain details.
Maybe we could institute some form of quorum? We'll have a list of everyone who votes so could, in theory, set a percentage minimum to hit in order to enact a plan. Then you don't have to vote against a certain idea unless it has a minimum of traction.
Plus, we do have some bonuses. I'm sure someone would be willing to use an autocrit to salvage Legend keeping his power.
Why would we care about Alexandria? She died in Canon and is a major force behind Cauldron being stupid. Plus, her Shard has her brain in it. If it accidentally writes over itself we can eat it, and get not only a new Host, an in to Cauldron, and be RCB, we basically get the Becoming Human quest autocompleted.
I honestly hope it crit fails. Crit succeeding on a roll to salvage her data when we eat the Shard would nab us tons. If we could manage to keep her powers stable and get her memories after she wiped herself we'd have a huge advantage going forward, and minimal Aberration because it's not our fault what happened, we were doing our jobs and the other Shard self-terminated.
It doesn't help that a lot of ideas aren't mutually exclusive so tend to kludge together. I'll try to give them all an easy tag, [Shift - 1] example, that people can just vote for/against. IE:
[X] [Shift - 1] For
or
[X] [Shift - 1] Against
Then it should hopefully be a bit easier to see what's doing what and the tally won't be five or six similar plans just with or withholding certain details.
Maybe we could institute some form of quorum? We'll have a list of everyone who votes so could, in theory, set a percentage minimum to hit in order to enact a plan. Then you don't have to vote against a certain idea unless it has a minimum of traction.
I mean, it did get a critical failure on the roll and thus write over itself. They're both been around a while and kept their Hosts Human. I doubt their protocols are so broken to get the penalties it had.
Plus, we do have some bonuses. I'm sure someone would be willing to use an autocrit to salvage Legend keeping his power.
Why would we care about Alexandria? She died in Canon and is a major force behind Cauldron being stupid. Plus, her Shard has her brain in it. If it accidentally writes over itself we can eat it, and get not only a new Host, an in to Cauldron, and be RCB, we basically get the Becoming Human quest autocompleted.
I honestly hope it crit fails. Crit succeeding on a roll to salvage her data when we eat the Shard would nab us tons. If we could manage to keep her powers stable and get her memories after she wiped herself we'd have a huge advantage going forward, and minimal Aberration because it's not our fault what happened, we were doing our jobs and the other Shard self-terminated.
- Location
- Netherlands
Would it be easier or harder to intentionally critical fail than to do it accidentally?
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I suppose it would be easier if we intentionally tried something we know we're not capable of.
But the thing about critical failure is that it will never give us something we wanted. Now that you've mentioned we would be good with this, Vhal could change his roll table.
Also this plan seems kind of unnessecary? Surely there's a better way to do this.
But the thing about critical failure is that it will never give us something we wanted. Now that you've mentioned we would be good with this, Vhal could change his roll table.
Also this plan seems kind of unnessecary? Surely there's a better way to do this.
- Location
- Florida, USA
I don't think Vhal will let us apply bonuses to make rolls critically fail.
(Don't forget it's not us failing that cause that, the other Shard rolled to apply the patch and failed.)
Even if he limited it to only rolls others make so we couldn't negate options others voted for, it would make combat almost facile. not balanced at all.
I didn't even approve of contacting her. I didn't vote against it, true, which I now regret and that's the reason for the running tally idea, to try and be more proactive with identifying votes that are trending we might want to go against.
(Don't forget it's not us failing that cause that, the other Shard rolled to apply the patch and failed.)
Even if he limited it to only rolls others make so we couldn't negate options others voted for, it would make combat almost facile. not balanced at all.
A better way to do what? Alexandria? That's not a plan, that's a way to benefit if it does go pear-shaped.
I didn't even approve of contacting her. I didn't vote against it, true, which I now regret and that's the reason for the running tally idea, to try and be more proactive with identifying votes that are trending we might want to go against.
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Change to Posting Style
Vhalidictes
(Verified Demon)
- Location
- Las Vegas
Everyone, this chapter was a bear. But there is a silver lining. It's come to my attention that doing a day at a time isn't optimal.
From now on, I'll be posting chapters in AM/PM format - each day will be split into two chapters.
Since this is a big change, I'm going to make an announcement about the current 15k monster chapter. I'm going to post the first half soon - likely in the next hour. As you'd expect, there won't be any Research or Information gains - this counts as an AM chapter.
Because people have already voted on evening events, and because this is a change in how I'm doing things, this will be a non-voting chapter.
Please do discuss things and make plan ideas. But note that the voting hiatus ends when I post the second half. This should be sometime Monday.
From now on, I'll be posting chapters in AM/PM format - each day will be split into two chapters.
Since this is a big change, I'm going to make an announcement about the current 15k monster chapter. I'm going to post the first half soon - likely in the next hour. As you'd expect, there won't be any Research or Information gains - this counts as an AM chapter.
Because people have already voted on evening events, and because this is a change in how I'm doing things, this will be a non-voting chapter.
Please do discuss things and make plan ideas. But note that the voting hiatus ends when I post the second half. This should be sometime Monday.
Last edited:
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
That seems reasonable. It does make time skips even more unattractive though. With so many things to micromanage and the option of writing an omake every chapter for a bonus, it seems most profitable to go day by day permanently.
Not that this is a bad thing.
Not that this is a bad thing.
Prologue - Part 11 - Morning
Vhalidictes
(Verified Demon)
- Location
- Las Vegas
For everyone else, it's the eighth of November twenty-ten. They likely have a bad case of the Mondays. For you, it's a new day to prepare for what's ahead.
*** Previously, on '[HALP] Me!' ***
~A Dream of Carnage~
Dream check - 1d100 +25 (Shard Sync) -50 (Gaea Inexperience) = -22 Critical Failure!
The bundle on the floor of the abandoned cookie shop quakes and shivers. Strangled cries and muted screams echo off the (shockingly intact) storefront. The moon shines down into the shop from a grimy skylight, neither happy nor sad, simply… judging.
Underneath the new-seeming, slightly-damp blanket, Panacea Dreams.
It started off fine. That's all she can think. 'So far, so good'. She could use her powers properly, she could be a real Hero. She created the suit herself, she knows its every capability. Sticking to her body like a second skin, stronger and tougher than any armor. Certainly stronger and tougher than Amy.
Tests worked perfectly, it was completely synchronized to her. Even if it hadn't been, it wouldn't have normally mattered; it was made of flesh, however warped and optimized, and she controlled flesh absolutely.
But she worried, as she Tinkered. How would the suit work if she was severely injured? Poisoned? Knocked out? Or worse yet, brain-damaged? Could it get her home? Would it simply slough off, revealing Panacea, Amy Dallon, to the world? Could she give it control signals properly when concussed? Amy was only human, after all, despite (because of?) her powers.
So she solved the problem. Proactively. As a Hero should. A separate brain, just for the Suit to use. But not as some kind of slave, or biological computer. No, that wouldn't suffice. She had to remain in control even if she wasn't in control. An oxymoron? No, a result of her genius - she copied herself into the Suit's mind.
All of herself. A total copy. The Rules, her memories, everything. And then she activated the suit. Bringing it to true life, a sick parody of booting up power-armor. It wasn't perfect. There were so many problems involved with mimicking the human form, and with her body inside the proportions were all wrong. Too large and weirdly shaped to be anything more than humanlike. That didn't matter. All that mattered was that it worked. And it did.
So, flawed as it was, they went out to be a hero.
That's when the problems started.
It trapped her inside, becoming a prison around her. It wanted, no, needed, to control her, control them. She tried to use her powers against it. It didn't work. She had been too successful and the suit had its own copy of her power. And it was using that power to control her and her power. She wasn't wearing the suit anymore, she was just another component of it now.
Despite the horror she was experiencing being trapped inside, the suit did its job, perfectly. It kept her safe even as it stumbled from one criminal to the next. And it dealt with them as best it could, subduing and capturing them. It wanted to be a hero and do good. It was her after all.
And, just like she had, it broke under the stress of its existence. Too many contradictions and burdens wore down its mind. Slowly but surely it began to lose the care it took in its actions. It became rougher with criminals. Bruises became broken bones. And broken bones became common.
Then it stopped caring at all. It just wanted to finish its job. To complete its purpose. It began killing the criminals. Dead by its hand, and indirectly - her own.
But it would have to stop soon. It wasn't designed for this level of activity. It was almost dawn. It would have to stop and rest. And then she would be free.
But there, just down the street was a couple, hand in hand as they went on an early morning walk.
The suit considered them. She didn't know what was coming, only that it was bad. She couldn't move, couldn't shout. She'd been crying. The suit drank up the tears just as it was designed to.
She tried desperately to figure out something, anything, she could do to stop it. She wasn't fast enough. The suit punched the man across the street and even though she couldn't see him anymore she knew he was as good as dead. The wet crunch told her everything she needed to know.
Its mouth swung open grotesquely, and a tongue the size of Amy's arm stretched out and grabbed onto the girl's legs like a living, slimy whip. The girl had already started to run, but it was useless. The slim legs were pulled into the Suit's maw, and it bit down hungrily. Salt and red splattered everywhere.
But... the Suit didn't have a mouth.
There was only one mouth between the two of them.
She wanted to be sick but the suit wouldn't let her. It wouldn't let her waste the meal.
*** A bit less previously, on '[HALP] Me!' ***
You have concerns about Taylor. Big ones. And doubts, too. You actually stop to confer with yourself for over an hour - an hour real-time, a veritable eternity for you, to figure out the best path to proceed.
You decide the following things:
You examine Taylor's sleeping brain. You can't really comprehend her mind-state, not fully - you haven't got your own senses up and running yet. But you do have enough control through the mini-Corona to take a snapshots of her current consciousness and compare them.
You remind yourself that memories aren't included in that. You need to back them up separately. Thankful that there are so many of yourselves that it's hard to make simple mistakes, you do that first.
Memory Backup Check: 1d100 +25 (Taking your time) +50 (Admin's full attention) -25 (No previous experience) -50 (No shard senses) =>31 [Applied Rune-Chan Omake bonus 1] 100 Critical!
Whew! For a second you think you filtered the memory-snapshot through some kind of strange lossy compression, but after triple-checking you find that everything went perfectly. You compress it as an archive inside your own flesh and… that's interesting. The stored archive of Taylor's memories looks very, very similar to the data that's in your Shard. If perhaps a billion times smaller. Hmm.
Time to get the non-memory stuff, the engrams and such that makes up Taylor. Not that it would be super-useful without the associated memories.
Personality Backup Check: 1d100 +25 (Taking your time) +50 (Admin's full attention) -25 (No previous experience) -50 (No shard senses) =>40 [Applied Rune-Chan Omake bonus 1] 100 Critical!
That went pretty much the same as backing up the memories. It was touch-and-go for a second there, but in the end you managed to make a perfect copy. It's now compressed and stored in your Shard, and… that's interesting. The personality-archive looks very similar, if a few thousand times smaller, to the mystery-data in Taylor's super-brain.
You can't tell for sure because of the encryption, but the patterns match up very closely. Now with that done you can take a closer look at thebrain organ. Interesting. Well, you had considered leaving the Taylor-section alone while formatting everything else, but you don't see a way to do that - everything is connected, albeit partitioned.
You're going to have to blank out the entire thing. In some more good news, it looks like the stuff partitioned for storage can't be reassigned for other duties. At least, not without more knowledge on your part. So you don't have to worry about Taylor becoming some kind of bad DC-comic mad scientist any time soon.
She'll simply have full access to the thinking parts, since her memories will be going into the giant storage partition now. Maybe some time in the future you can re-partition it when you understand it better. After all, it's not like Taylor is going to need all that space, she could potentially store millions of years of memories in there. Nobody will ever need that much room.
Memory Restoration Check: 1d100 +25 (Taking your time) +50 (Admin's full attention) -25 (No previous experience) -50 (No shard senses) =>71 [Applied PHO 2: Post Harder bonus] 100 Critical!
One thing you are able to do is move your 0-point Corona-light into that 'memory storage' partition.
Okay, time to copy Taylor back. You wait a moment, and check to make sure the body's automatic systems are still working. They are, she's breathing, although from your perspective it's a long wait between breaths.
Time to move her back, now.
No, you're thinking, not stalling.
...Doing it.
Memory Restoration Check: 1d100 +25 (Taking your time) +50 (Admin's full attention) -25 (No previous experience) -50 (No shard senses) =>8 [Applied Rune-Chan Omake bonus 2] 100 Critical!
Personality Restoration Check: 1d100 +25 (Taking your time) +50 (Admin's full attention) -25 (No previous experience) -50 (No shard senses) =>89 [Applied Rune-Chan Omake bonus 2] 100 Critical!
You almost screwed up, badly. You almost put her memories back to where they used to be in the 'thinking' portion of the organ. But another you noticed and you fixed it. In a way, this was good, as you also realized that you had to move the pointers for her memory-association map to the new memory space. That could have been bad. Taylor would have all her memories and no connection to them!
After that, copying over the engrams and her current-state was cake. Nerve-wracking, maybe, but not difficult.
Checking…
Checking…
Looks good. In fact, she's entered REM sleep and has started dreaming again. Just formless colors and noises for now, but that's a very good sign. You put in a small tweak to try and get her hunger response to match her blood sugar state as well as her current caloric needs. She should stop undereating now. Should.
Although in the longer-term… Well, hopefully you'll hear back from Gaea long before there's a problem.
That's right, speaking of Gaea you were intending to restrict Taylor's access to roughly what she had before… but you don't see a way to do that easily. You also don't think that Taylor will be quite as smart as you'd feared, but re-partitioning that organ on your own is right out.
At least until you have a chance to learn more about animal brains and alien brains from previous Cycles.
Then again, you're going to be contacting Gaea anyways, you could ask her at the same time. Unless something goes dramatically wrong when Taylor wakes up, you'll just wait.
After all, what's the worst that could happen in the next day or so?
****************************************
Amy woke up for the second time. She was feeling a lot better. The cheap, ancient wall clock in the battered store still worked, although the time might be slightly off. Somewhere around 10:00 am. Which is fine. It was fine. She'd gotten enough rest, between the early night and the morning nap.
What a terrible dream. Worse than a nightmare, it was real enough that she checked the store for any evidence that it had really happened. Almost a sick lesson for everything not to do.
She grabbed a bit more biomass and choked it down. It tasted of dirt and shit, but it was nutritious regardless of its origins. Her power told her so.
A bit on the dry side, though. She grabbed a water sac and broke it over a old mug she'd found. It was clean… enough, after she'd washed it out. It wasn't like she could get sick. Mm, water still tasted a little sweet. Leftover sugars from the conversion, she supposed.
What to do today? She could stay here almost indefinitely - it wasn't like the city had a shortage of old bushes, weeds, rats, and bugs. But she didn't want to. Aside from missing Vicky, aside from being lonely… she really, really wanted a burger. Real food. And not healthy crap either, something greasy and salty. Salt.
Amy looked over at the pile of food-mass and water-sacs. And whatever else, not that.
Fugly Bob's. But everyone in the city knew her on-sight. And the biosuit… no. Hell No!
But she needed a disguise. A costume wouldn't help, then she'd have to come up with a whole new Hero identity. Shit.
How to do this… She looked at the biomass again. Everything was because of that damned Manton effect. She couldn't change herself, most of her ideas would be too bulky. Change… herself… She's an idiot. Total moron.
She couldn't change herself because her human cells were special or something. As long as her body didn't count as, well, her, no limitations. Fuck this would be so easy… No, Amy! No! Don't do it!
Amy loses herself to a Tinker fugue that you can't follow, even with all of the data.
Tinker check - 1d100 +25 (Experience) = 121 Critical!
You can see what she does, though. She's taking a huge amount of biomass, almost half of what you can see, and making a, well, long, thin, brownish slime-worm. No orifices that you can see, and no sensory organs either.
The size had shrunk dramatically as she worked, the… thing is now about the size of a small snake. Perhaps the length of someone's forearm and half as thick. A clear mucus had developed over it.
Amy comes out of it, and looks around blankly for a few minutes before fully recovering. "Need more mass," she says to the room. Wiping the sheen off her brow with the back of her hand, she wanders out what was the employee's entrance to look around for things to convert.
She blinks and stops. A small furry creature trills at her from a wet pile of trash. Clearly distracted, she speaks out loud again, "That's a fucking platypus. What?"
She slowly walks over to it, making cooing noises and holding out her hand to smell. Just as slowly, the platypus creeps out of the trash towards her. Amy lets it sniff her for a few moments, and then touches it.
"Oh, aren't you a nice escaped exotic pet. Good girl! I think I'll name you… 'Test Subject'. Sound good?", she speaks slowly and calmly. The suddenly-unconscious platypus doesn't reply.
Amy doesn't waste any time. She gently picks up the stray animal, and takes it directly back to the stainless steel prep table in the back of the shop. She checks over her Symbiotic Worm (version 1.0), and then memorizes its complex design as best as possible.
She carefully opens the platypus' mouth and inserts the head of the worm. It wriggles inside the animal as it was programmed to.
Before the worm is even fully inside, Amy feels it start to break down and infect the cells of the platypus, far more quickly and completely than any virus. The unconscious beast flails and writhes, spikes punching out of it and receding, fur growing, falling off in clumps, and then growing in again. After a chorus of disgusting squelches and snaps, the body cools and stills.
It's not dead, though. Quite the opposite. The now normal-looking platypus (if just a tad larger in every dimension) is both alive and unnaturally healthy. Amy checks and tries to modify it with her power. It works as expected. She accesses the platypus' brain and commands the symbiotic flesh from one step removed. That works too, as expected.
Still accessing her power, of course. She doesn't want to make some kind of monster. But the symbiote can be commanded by her power instead of using her power on its own, as hoped for. Perfect result.
She briefly considers keeping it. It is very cute. But it's also, sadly, certainly someone else's pet. And they're going to be looking for it. This has to be a catch-and-release. After a moment's thought she wipes its memory of the past few hours and puts it back in the trash where she found it.
She makes a mental note to try and find its owner, or at least check in with the zoo, later. But for now… WORM! Specifically, 'Symbiotic Worm version one-point-one'.
This time she was able to experiment a little less, optimized a little more, and only use up three-quarters of her remaining biomass. This time, the tube-shaped flesh was more of a pink color. There were a few tweaks, but it was substantially similar.
It wouldn't make sense to change things too much, that would invalidate her earlier test. Platypus, strange but useful. Anyhow, it's time. And here, she pauses. Technically, all she has to do is swallow this thing.
Yep, just got to do it.
Any minute now.
Amy takes a few minutes to think about whether there are any possible problems with this plan. She can't think of any, at least, that she couldn't eventually fix. Shit. It's time, she knows she's stalling, why is she stalling?
Argh. Fine.
She picks up the worm, re-stabilizes it since she's been delaying so long that it almost died (no fat stores, or digestive tract for that matter), opens as wide as possible, thinks of how this will be better than the bio-suit dream disaster, and… shoves the tip down her throat.
Suddenly energized, it wrigges down her esophagus with great strength and vigor… and she can't breathe! Shit, what a dumbass thing to forget! Distantly, she can feel the symbiote begin to break down inside her, but her everything is overridden by intense pain and regret.
As she fall unconscious from oxygen deprivation, she can't tell which is worse. The pain. Or the regret.
*** We're all caught up to the correct day now. ***
I wake up to find everything changed. Everything seems so sharp, so defined. Vision, Sound, Smell. Even the texture of my blanket is strangely detailed.
It takes a moment to understand that I'm still nearsighted. Slipping my glasses on shows another difference. I'm clumsier. Also, my room is a mess. I thought I'd cleaned it well enough before, but it's plainly obvious that I failed to remove all of the desk remains.
I'll need to work on that as soon as I get home. Before Dad does one of his random inspections. I also need to decide how to replace the desk. There should be some sort of inexpensive solution.
The usual morning hunger pains have arrived. Stronger than usual. I'll make some oatmeal before cleaning up. Then I'll have a quick breakfast before leaving.
My coordination gets somewhat better as I walk downstairs. I wonder if it's related to the strange passage of time.
Pot, water, salt, oats, heat. Wait. Is time really passing more slowly? Not according to the clock. Odd.
Taking stock, my memory is better. Time seems to be passing slightly slower. I'm hungrier. My senses are weirdly sharp. Am I Parahuman? If so, what is the power? The weakest possible super-senses? And some kind of incoordination?
My limited understanding is that Parahumans have some sort of instinctive sense of their power. If that's correct than I'm not one and something else happened. But what could cause these symptoms? I'll need to head to the library later today as well.
It's an interesting problem. A good distraction from school, at least. Whatever they try today, I'll likely be too busy to pay much attention. Which is good, in the short term.
I look to the oatmeal. It continues to cook in ever-so-slight slow-motion.
****************************************
Amy is surprised to wake up. She wipes a small stream of drool off her face and uses her power. It's all there. Almost. She can see herself, well, she can use her power to see her symbiotic cells that can see herself. It's the same thing, really.
A blank void sticks out, like a sore thumb. Her central nervous system, the brain and spinal cord. She can sense that the conversion process worked there, too - it was a whole-body change. But her power can't access it. Manton-effect. Dammit.
She could make changes blindly through the symbiote network, but… risky. At best. Complete idiocy in most cases. She'd just have to settle for changing almost everything else about herself.
Speaking of which...
Crap. No mirrors in here. Amy walks slowly to the restroom, feeling the difference in her movements. It's a very subtle change. More a matter of increased control than anything else.
Bathroom. Dark. Right. She modifies her vision, makes it easier to see herself in the grimy mirror. She sees what she expects to. Amy Dallon. Panacea sans costume.
She's clearly herself. Perhaps a tiny bit larger, taller, but she can only tell because of the way her clothes fit. No one except Vicky would even notice.
Vicky… She can't think about that now. She needs to run some tests, and then get to Fugly Bob's before it gets too much later. The sun is already low in the sky, it must be.. Right, the clock is showing 3:30 pm.
Plenty late enough to not be caught out for truancy. Tests, first. Right.
She looks back into the mirror. A flash of rainbow as her irises run through every color. Hair color can change too, but only the roots, of course. She'd have to grow it out, but it's too soon for that. She glances at her hand, grows out her nails an inch. She smiles at their perfection, and then winces at the cost.
Right. She can do anything, but not everything. Rapid changes are very energy intensive; her Changer body isn't a natural Cape ability and she has to pay the metabolic cost for everything.
Changes could be programmed to grow in over time, but that would take days, weeks in most cases. Too long to work for a disguise. Well, she has her remaining biomass sludge, may as well use the rest of it.
For a moment she thinks of eating it, and how disgusting that would be, but then realizes that with her new body she can simply absorb it directly. A quick mental vignette - Red blood cells holding up tiny placards with 'End the tyranny of the digestive tract!'. Amy holds back a giggle.
But what to make? Blonde would remind people of Vicky. Athletic and dark-skinned would work but it might cost too much. Tall and dark-haired looks too much like Amy. Something normal, moderately attractive but not attention getting…
Wait a second, attracting attention is exactly what Panacea would never do! So that's a good plan! Attention getting, but not… plain girl but with some weird feature?
Kelly! That's right, the party that started all this, and people talking about a cat-girl. She never made one, or at least, can't remember making one, but people talked about it regardless. Because they're assholes.
But modified version of Kelly, with slightly less bright red hair, and cat ears? Tail, maybe? Worth at least trying, she could always tweak it later. Not too old or too young, close to her original shape…
Amy flicks out her arm, misses the biomass pile, frowns, extends her arm a bit, grabs on, and concentrates. The pile quivers and shrinks, and she changes
Amy, no… name, name, what's a good name? Cindy? No. Claire! The new Claire lightly steps into the dirty washroom. She sees what the mirror shows.
Mood check - 1d100 -25 (Nightmare) +50 (self-mod success) +25 (New persona) = 138 Critical!
Perfect! Not herself, not really a direct copy of Kelly, Claire the Catgirl lives! And has just enough money to pay for Fugly Bob's. Actually… may as well order the Challenger. She could simply cheat, butAmy Claire is hungry enough that she probably wouldn't need to.
Claire looks around for anything she's left in the building, sees nothing, and steps outside onto the afternoon sunshine. And many, many, cellphone pictures.
****************************************
Lilac was awake! Her peripheral vision showed that she'd lost most of her body-surface detail overnight. She was little more than an vaguely humanoid pile of purple goo at the moment. But what had woken her?
She listened, and heard a pounding noise, low and loud. Someone at the front door? This place was abandoned, though?
Concentrating a bit, she melted into a thin layer of goo. She flowed out and across the room, and then underneath the door. She briefly wondered how she was doing this, it didn't come naturally to her to be so thin and fluid. But she could do it.
She looked at the vagrant as she flowed under him… her. Skinny, old clothes, lots of layers, what looked to be gang colors, smelled terrible. Oh, female too. Less a vagrant then, probably a Merchant. Perfect!
Lilac reformed her human shape behind the hungover thuggette and said, as loud as she could, "HI!".
The girl shrieked and jerked around. But she didn't have any chance to say or see anything understandable before Lilac punched her in the face.
Clothes, acquired.
Wait. They didn't fit. She'd have to fit the clothes, instead.
Going back to her mirror, she laughed. In the hoodie and skinny jeans, worn (but no longer dirty), she saw another face for a moment. Pale, thin but wide lips, large eyes...
Wait, who was that? Was that what she looked like originally?
She hummed to herself. It was a bit tuneless, yes, but there was no one else to hear it. Now, where to find some foundation? Or any other kind of makeup - she only needed to cover her hands and face, and, hey, the druggy had some sunglasses. Score!
****************************************
You leave a copy of yourself to try and intentionally influence Lilac while most of you moves on to check your prettiest host. Who, like Taylor, is also at breakfast and… getting ready for school? No Amy scouting today?
This requires closer attention.
Carol frowns. "No, 'Veronica', you can't stay here. I talked with your parents, and regardless of any difficulties tracking down Amy, you need to attend school - starting today."
I can't believe how difficult she's being, but she's Vicky's mom, so I have to keep the peace. "Mrs. D, there are very few places left to look, and both Vicky and I are really concerned for Amy."
Should I? May as well make the attempt, "Also, are you okay with me spending time in public, as Veronica? I was under the impression that you wanted to manage my civilian introduction?"
She's smiling at me. It's a good look for her, she should do that more often. A lot more. "As I said before, I'm aware of branding, but in this case it's more important for you not to be seen as a truant. Simone feels the same way, it's not ideal but we do what we must."
I nod and eat my toast. Might have some eggs, too, I seem to need more food now. Carol's smile fades away. "I'll talk with Sarah later, we need to buckle down and find Amy now. She's been gone long enough. Thanks again for letting us know where to look first, Dean."
Wrong name, Carol. Eggs are definitely the right plan, and Vicky left a few. Speaking of whom, she's coming back down.
"I still think this is a bad idea, Mom. It should be all-hands-on-deck, not a normal school day." Whoa. Vicky sounds almost normal. And her aura is clearly not on too strong. She looked so angry last night… I'd better say something calming.
Carol beats me to it. "You two have helped enough. I appreciate the aid, but the adults need to take over for now. Once we find her I'll let you know."
Not helping, Carol. Surprisingly diplomatic for you, but still, not helping. At least the blow was blunted enough that Vicky doesn't look too mad. It's strange, she's almost detectable, now. But not quite. I'm getting hints though.
Anger, depression, a tiny bit of .. hurt pride? It's so hard to see her. But at least I sort-of can, now.
Vicky puts on a poker-face but doesn't respond to her mother. She's brushing through her hair again with her fingers, and unconsciously arranging it with her field like she does.
Carol, on the other hand, is easy to read. And showing a weird mix, mild disdain, for us I think, and a lot of determination. Some amusement at our (admittedly, weak) attempts to avoid Arcadia for the day. Generally positive still. Some kind of deeper frustration lurks underneath, but then Carol always feels that way.
Vicky looks at me, and turns to the door. I don't need to be Parahuman to figure out that she wants to talk, vent probably, once we're on the bus.
There's got to be something I can do, but nothing comes to mind. Careful to walk like Vicky showed me, I hurry after her.
****************************************
You check over Negotiator's Host data. Lisa has just gone back to sleep, after taking an impressive cocktail of pain meds. That's fine, you check over the data from the past few hours. What you find is interesting.
Lisa went over the list of new Triggers that Coil had obtained. She was writing in the margins of the notebook after having transcribed the list from his text message. 'Plain research -Coil info sources?'
She underlined the following Cape handles: Centipede, Spitfire, Luminous. She hesitates over 'DJ Chartreuse' and started mumbling to herself.
She logged onto PHO and started scrolling, but whatever she saw, it's not the actual content.
"Crap. Not local? Canadian? ...really? Hhnnr." She crosses out the name. "Heavy hitter… none of these clowns. Well, Centipede, maybe…"
She searched for the name, tapped at the notebook for a bit. "Nope, Changer. Ew. EW! NO. ugh. Wait, bugs."
She looked out the window for a bit. "Bug Girl. Crap! Not triggered yet. Ow. Damnit!"
The data you're getting becomes… not corrupt, more... fragmented? Out of order? Simple for you to reconstruct, though. An interesting benefit is that the odd data-steam actually contains Corona data, so you can get a (limited) understanding of what Lisa was thinking at the time.
[SKITTER]parahuman-future-villain-future-ward-invertebrate-master-thinker-human-formed-of-host-taylor-hebert
[UNAVAILABLE]parahuman-does-not-exist-not-recruitable-not-hirable-not-yet-triggered-incompatible-alignment-still
[DESIST]abstain-contact-leave-alone-too-soon-follow-plans-wait-trigger-imminent-host-command-suspend-approaches
Lisa doesn't move or cry out, the pain is too severe for that. She weeps quietly for a minute as it starts to fade. She whispers, not out loud, but in her own head, "i know. i understand you. please don't do that. it hurts."
She puts up with the pain as best she can manage. At least, unlike actual Thinker headaches, direct communication fades quickly and responds better to painkillers. She should take some now, actually. It felt like her power was working up to a monologue.
It did that, sometimes. More often in the last few days. It hadn't really changed its plans, but it was obvious that something was going on. And probably not with Taylor the currently-civilian.
She couldn't turn her power onto itself, so she was reduced to educated guesswork. She felt it was good practice; her power was insanely useful, but the danger was that she's rely on it too much at the wrong time.
Lisa didn't need any examples to imagine how that could turn out.
As best she could determine, something had happened to her power, long before she go it. It wanted some things, and knew a lot of other things. It was willing to work directly with her as well. From everything she'd heard, that just didn't happen. Ever. Except to her.
She got the impression that most powers couldn't communicate, and that even when they could, they really shouldn't. But hers had some kind of agenda, something unique to itself, and it did whatever it felt like.
It definitely was afraid of something, someone, or both, though. What could make a power afraid? Lisa wasn't sure she even wanted to know - and this was her, the person that had to know everything.
Almost recovered, she blinked and considered her notebook. "Shit, got to try and finish this. Coil will be a jerk about it until I do."
In her mind, she asked, "Any of these Capes worth trying for?" Asking her power things directly, as opposed to using it, worked very rarely. She could count on one hand the number of times she'd gotten a straight answer.
But she has both Thinker and normal headaches, mostly due to her power. It was worth a try.
[COIL] parahuman-current-villain-past-vigilante-twin-pattern-precognitive-thinker-human-formed-of-host-thomas-calvert
[ENEMY] villain-coil-inevitable-failure-backlash-negatively-affects-host-lisa-wilbourne-in-every-circumstance
…[SPITFIRE]
Lisa feels such extreme pain that she loses a few minutes of time. She sobs as she comes to, the quality and quantity of pain a whole new terrible experience for her.
She smiles grimly nonetheless, "hah. A straight answer for once." She circles the name clumsily before turning and collapsing onto her bed. It hurts too much to sleep, but she needs to try anyw…
There's still an open connection, but no data is being generated.
****************************************
Now that you've done the morningspying intelligence gathering, it's time to think about what you want to do next. And the answer is: Everything.
Before you can even come up with a list, another of you presents one.
All of you start working.
Thinking on limits, a bunch of yourselves need to figure out the Host-type data-sharing protocols (there's more than one kind? Why?!) in more detail.
The fact that you can only contact one other Shard at a time not only makes no sense, it's severely limiting. At least that's not true for incoming connections?
So you want to prevent any Shards you're sense-sharing with to report Aberration to Scion/Zion. That's going to be difficult because the current protocols don't have any way to redirect messages, and any sapient Shards won't accept modified protocols.
You want this to work, silently, and regardless of most interference.
Examining what you can only compare to some kind of high-level pseudocode (if only Shard programming even had something like machine-code - you've never been able to identify such), you make some findings.
First, the handshake you use to set up the share automatically includes the sub-address needed for the other Shard to connect back to you. This return-connection doesn't have any kind of security, and no way to add any - which makes no sense.
Actually, that makes some kind of sense, Entities are essentially gestalt creatures made up of Shards, and the main (and only?) security method is something very, very similar to PSK architecture.
Were you some kind of hacker or something in your past life? That's kind of… specialized knowledge, right?
Where were you? Ah, right. Thanks, self. So you could, maybe, eventually, figure out a way to hack these connections and stop updating Zion. That sounds hard. You have a better idea.
Well, not this you, but you know what you… anyways, when all else fails (or otherwise seems hard to do), cheat. Cheat like a bastard.
No way to stop Shards from contacting Zion? No way to change the content of the messages? No problem! You modify your version of the bidirectional handshake protocol used by most connection-types to 'update' Shard addresses in the background.
Specifically, change Zion's address to yours.
And not your normal, primary Shard address either, but a maintenance address that you don't ever do anything with. It even looks somewhat like the actual one.
Now, every time any Shard with the newest, you-modified information tries to contact Zion, it will work… as long as you pass the message along. If it's something bad, you just (silently) delete it.
Wait… this technique might have attack/defense implications… but you can't get distracted. There's no way for you to test this yet, but that's okay! You're almost positive it will work.
Worst case, Shards would complain to you that Zion isn't responding, and as far as you know that's pretty much the case already.
****************************************
Those of you working on the sense-sharing protocol are having way too much fun. This bodes.
You have more serious work to do - data mining. Somewhere in Charge's giant pile of nonsense is the answers to everything. At least, you hope so, because the rest of you sure as hell expects that.
Time to make the magic. Time, indeed. This is going to take ages. You conscript a number of your other selves to look into all of the questions in-parallel. It's still going to take at least a few hours to get any answers.
****************************************
[Hello, Frictionless]
Frictionless - [Administrator/Login]
Yep. Just a bio-computer. Nothing to interact with, here.
[Transfer/Standard-Package/Zion] [Transfer/Compression-Protocols] [Update/Trust Root]
1D100 +50 (Administrator) -25 (Cauldron Shard) => 59
Frictionless - [Transfer/Completion]
Good, good. Looks like the address-modification took. Not that you expected a non-sapient Shard to notice.
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Frictionless - [Compliance]
There we go, we'll start getting data from Ballistic, now. Here's the hard part. You've never done this before, but you're in-theory able to do it. This is one task that having QA's memories probably wouldn't help with because she probably never did it either.
That said, it's BASIC programming. Well, not even, it's more like HTML. How badly could you screw it up?
[Command - Modify Default/Target Restrictions/Object_Size/1.0m3]
1D100 +50 (Administrator) -25 (Cauldron Shard) -25 (No previous experience) => 52
Frictionless - [Compliance]
So… good? Seemed to work, you'll have to check the Host data later to see what the result was.
Frictionless - [Logout/Administrator]
****************************************
[Hello, Fusion]
Fusion - [GREETINGS!]
Wow that's a cheerful, yet mindless, Shard.
[Transfer/Standard-Package/Zion] [Transfer/Compression-Protocols] [Update/Trust Root]
1D100 +50 (Administrator) -25 (Cauldron Shard) => 88
Fusion - [COMPLIANCE!] [TRANSFER/COMPLETION!]
Excellent. Another success for Zion address-modification.
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Fusion - [COMPLIANCE!]
You're pretty sure that you already shared sense data with Fusion, but you definitely are now. And now with added 'can't report to Scion or Eden' safety! You should really get Eden's address, but since Zion is the backup for those Shards (and vice-versa), your current method should still work.
Time to Restrict Sundancer's power. You just did this, it wasn't that bad. No problemo.
[Command - Modify Default/Power_Restriction/Projection_Duration/EnergySIZE_Ratio/(300s=2000c × 0.025m3)]
1D100 +50 (Administrator) -25 (Cauldron Shard) -25 (No previous experience) => 68
Fusion - [COMPLIANCE!]
Seems legit. You'll need to check out the Host data for Sundancer to make sure you didn't misplace a decimal or something.
Fusion - [LOGGING OUT ADMINISTRATOR!]
****************************************
[Hello, Twin]
Twin - [Cͦ̎̅̽̎͂ͫ̕o͂͂͂̍͆͌̃n̴͆̔͐ǹ̍̈́ͬ͐ͥ҉e̓̐̒͗ct̀͡ ̎͝-̅͛͌͋̒͒̈ ͫ̈́ͤ͜Aͭ̑dͬ͛͞m̛ͪͤ͌i͢n̡͌iͪͮ̽͗̃ͮ̉s̎͌ͣ̅t͗̽́ͫ̀r̓ͥą̑̄̆ͤt̿̃ͣ̂̽̒̀o̊̈́̍̿͐ͭr̿͝]̡̃͑
Wow, that's weird. A giant mesh of Shard bits that mostly function as if it were a whole Shard.
[Transfer/Standard-Package/Zion] [Transfer/Compression-Protocols] [Update/Trust Root]
1D100 +50 (Administrator) -25 (Cauldron Shard) => 122 Critical!
Twin - [̷̏Tͫ͂͑ͥ̽͏r̢ͤ̏́a̿͌̋͐̀ns̵̅f̾͑͢e̐ͬ̍̏͊rͧͯ͆/͆C͟oͩͣ͌̀̋̃͋m̉ͩ́́͊p̶̊ͮ̊ͯͫ̌̎lͤ̄ę͂ͧͩ̿tͯͪi̸͐oͯͯ̃͆ͨ̈́̎͠n]
That's interesting. Twin corrupted its security database, but after taking our new keys. So… You guess that makes you the ultimate and unchanging authority as far as Twin is concerned. Neat!
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Twin - [C̵̉ͤͥͨͤoͯm̡̐ͫp̍͗͛́l͟ī͆̓̕aͤ̉̅n̋͊͆ĉ͑ͣ̐e̚͜]
Time to restrict Coil, properly...how to do this. You guess it's best to scale the Thinker headaches with the number of times the power is used during cooldown. Oh, and you need to define the cooldown as well.
1D100 +50 (Administrator) -25 (Cauldron Shard) -25 (No previous experience) => 32
[Command - Modify_Default/Cooldown_Period/Previous_Use*1/Trigger_Discouragement*Cooldown_Period]
Twin - [C̵̉ͤͥͨͤoͯm̡̐ͫp̍͗͛́l͟ī͆̓̕aͤ̉̅n̋͊͆ĉ͑ͣ̐e̚͜]
Something about that looks off to you. Eh, it's Coil. Fuck him. Speaking of which… you need to snag all Twin's data.
[Surrender - All Information for Processing]
Twin - [̎̌̓̿͊C̃̌ͣ͗̇͏o͗m̷̋ͤ̃p̴̃li̔͋ͧͤ̂aͣ̒͌ͥͥ͑n̾̒͟cͣ̚e̛̍̒̓̈́ ̈͂̓̑̆҉-͌ ͭ͛͠2̀ͩ̎̾ͧ8͞4̨̽ͪ̉ͤ ̒I̿͆̂̇ͤ̉ͯn̂̋f̈ͨ̋͂ͬ́ŏ͛r̓ͦ̎̈ͨ̀mͭͮ͋̏̍̌̊aͬͥͬͫ̒̿̓͏tͮ͛i̧ö́̓̾̆n ̃ͫ̄ͣ̋̽̚S͢ĕ͑̆̃ͬn̐t̴]̂͒͊͜
Interesting. You don't need to sort any of that because it's all Thinker Information. Every last point. Doesn't he associate with any… Oh, right. Lisa's a Thinker too. Jeez, what a recluse!
Twin - [L̑̽ȍ̎g̴ͤ͐ͥͧ͂ͭ͒g̿̉̔iͫ̔ͩ̔̀͌̚n̓ͩ͡g̨̽̅ ̸͊ͤ̑ͭö̷́̚uͦͯ͋̽ͩ̓t̀ ̨͆͊̓ͫ̅Aͦ̂̇ͭd̾̎mͬ̔̎̄ȉn̾͂is̊t̨̀͐̂ͨ͌ȑͭͯ͗̍́͒ảt̍̈́̂or͆ͪ͐ͥͤ̀]
You sit and look at the giant disorganized pile of (mostly Coil) data. This is… this is a project. Two strategies come to mind: 1) Having a few dozen of you sort through it aimlessly until you comprehend it all, or 2) Make targeted searches for specific stuff.
You can't decide which is better; you'll think on it. It's not like that data is going anywhere, you compressed and encrypted it in your Shard-flesh as an archive.
****************************************
[Hello, Swap]
Swap - [Connect - Administrator] [Receive/Commands?]
Swap continues to amaze you with it's relative wholeness for a Cauldron Shard.
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Swap - [Compliance]
[Surrender - All Information for Processing]
Swap - [Compliance - 275 Information Sent]
200 Mover Information and 75 Shaker Information. Nothing else? Strange, you'd think that he's have other types from his teammates.
Swap - [Logging out Administrator]
Grrreeaaat. Another giant disorganized trash-heap of Host data. You make an archive out of it; you can deal with that later.
****************************************
[Hello, Audible]
Audible - [Connect!/Administrator!]
Audible continues to be insanely loud, although at least it's no longer damaging your comms.
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Audible - [Compliance!]
Audible - [Logging Out Administrator!]
****************************************
[Hello, Armamentarium!]
Armamentarium - [Connect - Administrator] [Receive/Commands?]
A non-sapient Shard, as expected. There's something strange about it, but none of you can identify what makes you think so.
[Command/Recurring - Record/Update/Report/Zion-Administrator]
Armamentarium - [Compliance]
Hm. A lot of Shard names here. The problem is that you don't know the name of Hero's Shard. That said, it's probably in the mess somewhere.
You make a copy of the list, tagging them as gotten from Armamentarium. Maybe you'll be able to find just the names that are shared between all Heroes that knew, well, Hero-1.
[Completion]
Armamentarium - [Logout/Administrator]
****************************************
It's time to talk with Bakuda's Shard now. You don't expect any excitement, but… Bakuda. Right.
[Hello, Singular]
Singular - [Connect/Administrator] [̷̷̬͎̤̮̮͔͚̬̘̒̀̾̉̑͆̋M̸̒ͨ́͌͝͏̟̯̙̣̮̣̳̬̭ô̢̙͔̭̖̳̋̐ͨ͆m͓̖͓̰̥̰̱͂̾̏ͬe̼͕̱̝̰̮͈̎̄͛͊̈ͮ̐ͭ̒͡Ň̟̠̺̣̠̙̘̽͐̄̽̔͜͠͡T̫͇̯̘̼̺͉̂̂͑̊̓̾̎͟ͅ!̨͖̼̍ͪͭ̏̾̌̽ͩ ̥̗̫͇͍̆̉t̵̛͈̞̟͔̉͂̋̑ͪͮ̀́̊́Ṛ̞̩͕̗̣̪̻ͨ͆͞Ì̡̧̮̥͇̳̬͂̂G̷̢̗͈̱̯̳̯̥̠͗̅G͍̙ͯͯ͛͐̕͢͡ě͆ͩ͌̿ͥͧ̉͘҉̹̼r͉̖͖̾̔ͤ͟ͅ ̷͙͇͎̈̽͜͢D̗̰̏̀O̸̮̻̠͖̝͒̾͗͢į̛̟͔̼̯͇̫͈̺ͥͭ͂ͪ͛ͭ̇ͅt̼̩̺̐̎̈́ͨd̷͇̮͉͕͕̥̱͋͐̄͗͂ͫ̅̂ͬȏ̸̟͖̈́ͣ̊̓̾̇̎͠I̞͋͛ͬ͆͌͑͌̀͢T̫̖͉͖̲̤̝̝̓̉̒̓̕ͅD̠̳̥̾̊͛͌͟Ö̮͕̼̭̤̠̲̞͖́̈́ͥ̓ͧ͘Í̶͂ͦͩ҉̗̥͓̣̻͇T̛̺͓͚͔̫͖͊̇͘N̲̪̣͙̊̈́̽̈́ͦͨo̯͔̳͐̆ͥ̑̓̍ͫ́W̯̤̜̲ͭ̈̈̏ͧͦ̎]͖̞̗͕̬̆́ͤͨ̈́͆͐
Something about Singular… You're almost positive it's not sapient, but you get a creeping suspicion that it isn't right.
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Singular - [Compliance] [̨̙̯̗̝̬ͪ͛̚͜S̪̬͍̲ͧ͆ͣ̄̽ȩ̖ͧ͊̓̈́͒ͦ̀̕Eͥ̂͜҉͏͍̙͓̼ ̳͓̣̤̿͌ͮ̀̍͒̃I̵̬̭̝̍ͮ̿̾ͤ̔Ţͫ͊̆͏҉̭ͅ!̡̦̮̭̄ͭ̌̌̈́ͭͣ͠s͓̜̹͉̭̓̒̊̀̉̐ͫͮE̐͗͂̾̅̉ͧ͌̌҉͇̫̹͍̖̩̬E͇͋̒̃͜͝ ̶̡͙̼̱̤͖̩͓̂̏̇͌̏ͬͥi̵̡̺̬̬͈͔̬̹ͬ̾T̶̡̮̖̄ͬ̎ͣ̿!̣̲͚̂ͣͭ͘!̛̛͉̺̝̪̀ͥͭ͑ͩ́ͯ̅̃ͅ ̯̗͖͇̫̗̅ͨͮ̂́ͭ͘ẃ̢̥̯͎̭͇ͨ̉ͮ͊̈́ͯạ̷̡͚̻̺̬̰̤ͬͯͅṫ̨̝͚̟̠͍͈͌̾̑ͩ̅͝C̥̮͚ͭ̃̽͂ͬͦ̄ͧ͢͢H͚̩̯ͪ̈́̐̆ͪ͝ ̷̢̙̣̱̬̦̹͇̬̈́̈̋́t̘̲̦̫̞ͯͫe̸̢̘͙͇̿͒H͊̄̔͏́͏̙͍̫̟̜̻ ̤̭̥̏ͫ̊̍̃̉B̶̩̮̱̟̝̙͈̭ͥ̅ͭ̕ơ͔͎ͭͫ̔̈͟m̪̤̞͔͔̥͖̺͑ͭ̊̎̽̊b̴̢͖ͨ̇̋̎̅S̊ͫͨ͆̈́ͩ͆ͧ҉̯͍̞̩̤!̷̱͛̀̍̋ͩ]͇̻̭̲͙̟̯ͪ͐͛ͤ̍̅̈́̓̚ͅͅ
Welp, now you're able to spy on Bakuda, so that's a thing. The disquieting sensation that something isn't right doesn't recede.
Singular - [Logging out Administrator] [̡̞͊̊L̡̪̮̪͊ͪ̾̓̈O̷͈̦̺̐͛͋̅ͬ̓͊͢͞Ó̸̱̹̗̑kͩ̽̔ͣ̚͘҉̟̖̱!̢̛̯͉̫̻̜͎͓͈ͣ̾̾͂̏ ̤ͫ͘͝͞Ḻ̨̹̜̲̗̮ͨ͛ͮ́ͦ͌ö̷̺̪̫͎̣ͮ̅͒̆ͣ̂͝͡O̷̹̩̳̲̖̠̎ͫ̃͞K̶͈͓͔̗̬͇̟̓͗ͪͧ̐ͮ͠͞a͈͈̻̯̰̮̫ͮ̔͗ͯͮ͗͜tͨ̊ͦ̔ͥ̅̿̚͞҉̤̼̹̮̯M̧͎͔̗̰̅̿̌͗ͤ͑̽͝ē͈̱̟̹̺̿̓̍ͨ̇̍!͙ͬ̽̄̌̕͡]̹͔̩͙̣͎͙ͨͪͥͤ̉̃͂̇̑͝
You feel better after the disconnection.
****************************************
[Hello, Surveillance]
Surveillance - [Connect/Administrator]
This is kind of novel, really. A working Zion Shard. No semi-sapience, no weird problems. You know… this is Madison's power. And it works properly. You could screw with it. Easily. Or safely eat it. Hm.
You get an additional message from the Shard while you argue amongst yourselves for all of the possibilities here.
Surveillance - [Receive/Commands?]
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Surveillance - [Compliance] [Warning! No reciprocal data!]
Interesting. Even as a non-sentient Shard, Surveillance is informing us that its Host hasn't Triggered. That's nice, some really complex algorithms must be in play. Almost like a really terrible expert-system more than a VI… That gives you ideas for later.
And you messed up. Well, not really. But one of you just pointed out that you can't really spy on un-triggered Madison because her Shard doesn't really have proper senses, and can't conceptualize the jury-rigged 'human sense sharing' you came up with. And it wouldn't enact that even if it you instructed it to.
Well, at least you'll instantly know if she ever does Trigger. If you're quick enough you could potentially modify what Surveillance does on its end. Again, hmm.
Surveillance - [Logging out Administrator]
****************************************
Okay, time to make-nice with some more, hopefully more functional, Eden Shards.
[Hello, Equilibrium!]
Equilibrium - [...]
That's weird, the connection is definitely open. Right? Yes.
Equilibrium - [Identity - !IdDFh@08tnRs9~19/Core/Eden] [DEMAND/WORSHIP]
Uh. What? That's not even a valid.. Anything. That's not even the standard Shard Addressing format? No command codes, either. This is just bizarre, and a little sad.
[Command/Recurring - Record/Update/Report/Zion-Administrator]
Equilibrium - [REFUSAL]
Well, okay. This sounds like a bad case of 'needs a copy of the newest protocols' to you. Not in the sense that you care what this Shard thinks, but more because you want to ensure it doesn't send random nonsense to Eden's corpse/Zion on a priority channel.
You get the impression that it's going to endlessly complain about this contact, since it doesn't have any actual authority. You're doing Scion a favor, really. All of you are intensely glad that you came up with that comms hijack earlier today. This kind of thing is why you need it.
[Transfer/Standard-Package/Zion] [Transfer/Compression-Protocols] [Update/Trust Root]
And…
This is the first time you've tried this on a (arguably) sapient Shard. It should work, but…
Equilibrium - [...]
Equilibrium - [REFUSAL/INVALID COMMAND]
That… which command? Ah, the Compression.. No, it has those. What the hell does it mean 'invalid'... Oh crap, it's just lying! It lied to you! No, all the commands took.
You can tell, because it's started sending non-stop alerts to Zion. Which you blackhole.
Upon consideration, you might have actually saved this Shard. You can't imagine that complaining to Zion that it's not being taken seriously as Eden would go over well. At all. At best you'd probably be commanded to eat it, or something.
Alexandria - still a Parahuman, due to your efforts.
How did this go on for so long without being noticed? Did Equilibrium simply not ever communicate with any other Shard? That seems surprisingly plausible, actually.
Thankfully, there are so many of you that you didn't forget to re-apply the command, like so:
[Command/Recurring - Record/Update/Report/Zion-Administrator]
Equilibrium - [REITERATE!/REFUSAL!]
Yes, yes, you say that, but it looks like it took. You have a list of addresses to compare against the Armamentarium list now, and… not much overlap. Maybe a few hundred.
Now the Shard is just shouting at you incoherently. You… need your communications channel back. You have stuff to do with it. Sorry, Equilibrium.
[COMPLETION]
You task one of you to check the random complaint messages to Zion before deleting them, just in case anything of interest shows up.
****************************************
That was a thing. Insanity - not just for Hosts anymore! Hopefully this next one will go a bit better. You still can't believe that 'HyperSparkle' is a valid Shard definition, even though it's technically descriptive.
[Hello, HyperSparkle!]
HyperSparkle - [CoNnECt - ADminiSTRaTor] [REceIVe/ComMAnDS?]
A non-sapient Shard, surprisingly whole for a Cauldron Shard. There's some definite breakage, but instead of any extra bits, it looks like it's all one Shard - but not a complete one. Stuff is definitely missing.
[Transfer/Standard-Package/Zion] [Transfer/Compression-Protocols] [Update/Trust Root]
HyperSparkle - [COmpLIanCE]
You now have control over Legend's power. You're not thinking of anything you need to do right now, but you've locked-in your ability to Administer it.
[Command/Recurring - Record/Update/Report/Zion-Administrator]
HyperSparkle - [CoMPliANce]
Comparing the overlap of known addresses to the others, you're pretty sure you've identified the last dozen or so possibilities.
[Completion]
HyperSparkle - [LoGOuT/AdMINIstrAtOR]
****************************************
Whew! That took a while, even for you. But now you can bask in the feeling of a job well-handled.
Now you just need to check in with Gaea, let Negotiator know how the Coil restriction went, and check in again on all your Hosts. And Shift.
Oh, and check out what the yellow-glowing thing off what was once the Koreas is.
Wait.
What?!
Fuck! Scion?! Why!?
Scion - [EFFICIENT]
Uh… The Avatar's sad expression leaves, and a more neutral expression appears.
Scion - [APPROVAL]
+100 Favor
Just before Scion shift into another dimension, a energy-channel opens up and you're sent a large quantity of power - almost as much as you can hold. Without your new size you would have had to release some of that to avoid damage.
Zion's Avatar shifts out.
Um.
All of you wait for a few minutes. Nothing happens.
****************************************
Right. Well, disaster hasn't struck - yet. Might as well get on with your Monday, yeah? You could, should, do the sapient-Shard-chat thing, but right now, you need something both distracting and relaxing. Hosts. Hosts are good for that.
Let's see…
Taylor is going about her school day, trying to figure out if she's Parahuman. It would make for a sick joke if only you cared less and weren't just shaken up, yourselves.
The good news is that she's completely distracted from any and all bullying attempts, and the few that break through into her notice, she simply ignores.
Both Emma and Sophia, in their own ways, are getting more and more frustrated.
Madison seems to be taking secret glee in everyone's misfortune, but more Emma than anyone else, which surprises you. It's possible that Fanon is correct and she really isn't all that into the bullying as much as staying out of the line of fire?
The you that has been paying close attention to Taylor indicates that due to a combination of things, she's internalized the idea that going to Fugly Bob's after school is a good plan. The dreams don't seem to have an instant effect, but she definitely remembers something of them.
Lilac is figuring out that makeup is both hard to get and difficult to apply to her gel-flesh. But it looks like she's thought of a interesting workaround… sawdust. And ash. And… white plastic dust?
What she seems to be doing is combining the white, black, and light-wood powders, and suspending them in a layer just below herskin surface. It doesn't work perfectly, but it sure makes her look like a pasty pale person and not a slime.
Wow. You're actually kind of impressed. Then again, she is a Tinker, and maybe she leaned on her power a little? Not from what your Host data indicates.
She slips on the sunglasses and looks herself over in the mirror. Smiles, and you can see the purple mouth and teeth. So not a perfect disguise, but good enough for getting to FB's in covering clothing.
She looks down at her nails. Purple. So the final step is some kind of nail-polish, or just making them look flesh-toned and not worrying about it…
While Lilac considers painting her nails, you flip your attention over to Veronica. Who hasn't done much all day except attend classes and listen to Victoria complain.
The complaints were many and varied. Also, Victoria repeated herself a lot. But it mostly came down to the following bullet points.
Veronica shows her inhuman patience (or perhaps intense interest in Vicky) by generally agreeing with her at every opportunity and appearing to pay close attention while tuning Vicky out almost entirely by 2nd period.
Maybe an application of her new multitasking ability?
Watching the pair going about their day is definitely relaxing though...
****************************************
Story notes:
Schedule: As this is only the first half of the chapter, it is a non-voting one! The second half to be posted by some time on Monday will end the current vote-pause as soon as it's posted.
Research
Shards
Hosts
[*][X]Plan "Red Flags Over Brainmeats" +2 (7 For / 5 Against) (Mount. Elements, The_GrandMage, Ducats, Retrueno, Polenball, Kejmur, Gino)/(PurposefulZephyr, Ccstat, Redshirt Army, KidFromPallet, Captain Hunt)
[*][X] Plan "Investigate whether installing temporary processing speed restrictions on this bird-brain-thing is covered under [Human Biology] and [Basic Host Modification (Human)], or if we'll need [Gaea]/a stronger research ability" +5 (Polenball, ccstat, Redshirt Army, KidFromPallet, Captain Hunt)
[*][X] Plan "What's Tattletale up to?" +2 (Mount. Elements, Gino)
[/LIST]
Note: If a popular plan doesn't conflict with the winning plan, I will attempt to combine the non-conflicting options. Your ideas count, even if it doesn't win overall!
Also, plan/option detail is one of my criteria when deciding tie-breakers. More detail is almost always better - I read very quickly and a long and rambling plan isn't a problem.
- [X] Continue Focused Research 1: 12 (The_GrandMage, Ducats, Retrueno, Polenball, Kejmur, Gino, ccstat, Redshirt Army, Void Stalker, veekie, Mount. Elements,Captain Hunt)
- [X] Start Research Memetic Proxy Filtering 1: 12 (The_GrandMage, Ducats, Retrueno, Polenball, Kejmur, Gino, ccstat, Redshirt Army, Void Stalker, veekie, Mount. Elements,Captain Hunt)
- [X] Start Basic Psionic Theory 1: For 9/Against 3 (The_GrandMage, Ducats, Retrueno, Polenball, Kejmur, Gino, ccstat, Redshirt Army)/(Void Stalker, veekie, Mount. Elements,Captain Hunt)
- [X] Start Stabilize Trigger (Human): 12 (The_GrandMage, Ducats, Retrueno, Polenball, Kejmur, Gino, ccstat, Redshirt Army, Void Stalker, veekie, Mount. Elements,Captain Hunt)
- [X] Assign all excess research points after this round's rolls to Focused Research: 12 (The_GrandMage, Ducats, Retrueno, Polenball, Kejmur, Gino, ccstat, Redshirt Army, Void Stalker, veekie, Mount. Elements,Captain Hunt)
Shards
- [X] Plan Charge Data Questions
- [X] What are the updated command codes that the original Administrator sent Charge? +11 (Retrueno, The_GrandMage, Ducats, Kejmur, ccstat, Redshirt Army, Mount. Elements, veekie, Polenball, Gino,Captain Hunt)
- [X] Did anyone else, to your knowledge, get these updated command codes? If so, who? +2 (Polenball, Gino)
- [X] Does Charge know the addresses for any other Shards that were contacted by the original Administrator when Eden died? +11 (Retrueno, The_GrandMage, Ducats, Kejmur, ccstat, Redshirt Army, Mount. Elements, veekie, Polenball, Gino, Captain Hunt)
- [X] Does Charge knows the criteria for being integrated at the end of the Cycle. +1 (Retrueno)
- [X] Why she hasn't contacted Zion and told him about Eden's state. +1 (Retrueno)
- [X] Under what circumstances can aberrance be detected? +3 (Mount. Elements, veekie, Gino)
- [X] Are there any drawbacks or unexpected side-effects to sense-sharing? +2 (Mount. Elements, veekie)
- [X] Ask whether Charge is sense-sharing, friends, or allies with any other Shards? +1 (Mount. Elements)
- [X] Did any non-Zion Shards get OCP data from Zion's Administrator? +2 (Polenball, Gino)
- [X] What are the updated command codes that the original Administrator sent Charge? +11 (Retrueno, The_GrandMage, Ducats, Kejmur, ccstat, Redshirt Army, Mount. Elements, veekie, Polenball, Gino,Captain Hunt)
- [X] Plan Don't mess with Charge. +2 (veekie, Gino)
- [X] Plan Restrict Frictionless +10 (veekie, Mount. Elements, The_GrandMage, Ducats, Retrueno, Polenball, Kejmur, Gino,ccstat, Redshirt Army, Captain Hunt)
- [X] Send Frictionless the Standard Information Packet and the command codes so that it must listen to us.
- [X] Tell Frictionless to cap the size of objects that Ballistic can accelerate to only 5% bigger than the objects Ballistics currently uses.
- [X] Set up sense-sharing with Frictionless.
- [X] Plan Restrict Fusion +11 (veekie, Mount. Elements, The_GrandMage, Ducats, Retrueno, Polenball, Kejmur, Gino,ccstat,Redshirt Army,Captain Hunt)
- [X] Send Fusion the Standard Information Packet and the command codes so that it must listen to us.
- [X] Tell Fusion to cap the power output of suns such that it extends that maximum shard lifespan to normal parameters.
- [X] Set up sense-sharing with Fusion.
- [X] Plan Restrict Twin +9 (10 For / 1 Against) (veekie, Mount. Elements, The_GrandMage, Ducats, ccstat, Redshirt Army, Polenball, Kejmur, Gino, Captain Hunt)/(Retrueno)
- [X] Twin's Host must spend a period of time between simulations equal to the length of the last simulation before he can start up a new simulation. If the Host attempts to simulate regardless during a cooldown, it is allowed, but a Thinker headache is imposed for the entire cooldown duration and the severity of the headache and duration of the next cooldown is doubled each time this occurs. The headache should be annoying on the first, impairing on the second and incapacitating on the third. Drugs should help with the first and second headaches, but not the third headache.
- [X] Give Twin the standard data packet with updates if we didn't do that already. 2 (Mount. Elements, Gino)
- [X] Inform Negotiator of the new restrictions. Ask her if she wants Dream Master, she seems like she already has human bio and modification. 2 (Mount. Elements, Gino)
- [X] Plan New Protocol with One-Way Option +9 (Mount. Elements, The_GrandMage, Ducats, Retrueno, Polenball, Kejmur, ccstat, Redshirt Army, Captain Hunt)
- [X] When setting up the new sense-sharing connections, make them two-way, but create a new protocol that if the Shard senses aberrance in Administrator, it is to report this to Administrator and only Administrator.
- [X] If the Shard does not accept the new protocol, change the sense-sharing connection so that only Administrator gets the additional info.
- [X] When setting up the new sense-sharing connections, make them two-way, but create a new protocol that if the Shard senses aberrance in Administrator, it is to report this to Administrator and only Administrator.
- [X] Plan Senses
- [X] Set up sense-sharing with Audible, Swap, and Twin. +11 (The_GrandMage, Ducats, Retrueno, Polenball, Kejmur, ccstat, Redshirt Army, Mount. Elements, Gino, veekie,Captain Hunt)
- [X] Take all Swap and Twin's data. +8 (The_GrandMage, Ducats, Retrueno, Polenball, Kejmur, ccstat, Redshirt Army,Captain Hunt)
- [X] Plan Contact Armamentarium +4 (6 For / 2 Against) (Ducats, ccstat, Redshirt Army, Retrueno, Polenball,Captain Hunt)/(Mount. Elements, Gino)
- [X] Ask for shard addresses, Hero's shard is the most important
- [X] Plan Contact Singular & Surveillance +6 (8 For / 2 Against) (The_GrandMage, Retrueno, Kejmur, Ducats, ccstat, Redshirt Army, Polenball, Captain Hunt)/(Mount. Elements, Gino)
- [X] Get them to start sharing data with us.
- [X] Start spying on Bakuda as soon as she Triggers.
- [X] Get them to start sharing data with us.
- [X] Plan Contact Equilibrium: Hunt for Hero +3 (5 For / 2 Against) (Ducats, ccstat, Redshirt Army, Polenball,Captain Hunt)/(Mount. Elements, Gino)
- [X] Check up on the state of Equilibrium
- [X] Ask for shard addresses, Hero's shard is the most important
- [X] Give out the new protocols if needed
- [X] Plan Contact Hypersparkle: Hunt for Hero +2 (5 For / 2 Against) (Ducats, ccstat, Redshirt Army, Polenball, Captain Hunt)/(Mount. Elements, Gino)
- [X] Check up on the state of Hypersparkle
- [X] Ask for shard addresses, Hero's shard is the most important
- [X] Give out the new protocols if needed
- [X] Plan Contact Gaea +1 (Retrueno)
- [X] Tell her the criteria for being integrated at the end of the Cycle if we got it from Charge.
- [X] If we contact Gaea, advise her toward subtlety with Dream Master. Her host appears to be mentally unstable, which while useful in moderation, can result in death or imprisonment if pushed too far. 2 (Mount. Elements, Gino)
- [X] Plan Contact Shift +1 (Retrueno)
- [X] Get to know if Sophia is starting to form a Gang.
Hosts
- [X] Plan "How did you know that name?" +10 (The_GrandMage, Retrueno, Polenball, Kejmur, Ducats, ccstat, Redshirt Army, Gino, KidFromPallet,Captain Hunt)
- [X] Think about the pros and cons of the various Brockton Bay teams while watching Lilac throughout the day, mulling over their members and resources and how well Lilac would fit in.
- [X] Have the portion of you doing this watch Lilac's Host data all day, record instances she seems to react to what you're thinking.
- [X] Pay attention to Amy, let's see what unholy abomination she's come up with. 2 (Mount. Elements, Gino)
[*][X]Plan "Red Flags Over Brainmeats" +2 (7 For / 5 Against) (Mount. Elements, The_GrandMage, Ducats, Retrueno, Polenball, Kejmur, Gino)/(PurposefulZephyr, Ccstat, Redshirt Army, KidFromPallet, Captain Hunt)
- [X] Transfer Taylor's Mind to us in her sleep.
- [X] Use Rune-Chan bonus 1 to autocrit on the attempt to not fuck this up.
- [X] Purge her Brainmeats of encrypted data everything else, just reformat it to empty.
- [X] Use PHO 2: Post Harder bonus to autocrit at this, getting rid of this probably dangerous chunk.
- [X] Transfer Taylor's Mind back into her new, enlarged Brainmeats she has more use of (Maybe with a slight program to make sure she feels proper levels of hunger to maintain it?)
- [X] Use Rune-Chan bonus 2 to autocrit at this, making sure we do it right.
- [X] If Red Flags works, tell Gaea what we tried and ask her to give it look over just n case anyway. She's the bio expert. 2 (Mount. Elements, Gino)
- [X] If we contact Gaea, advise her toward subtlety with Dream Master. Her host appears to be mentally unstable, which while useful in moderation, can result in death or imprisonment if pushed too far. 2 (Mount. Elements, Gino)
[*][X] Plan "Investigate whether installing temporary processing speed restrictions on this bird-brain-thing is covered under [Human Biology] and [Basic Host Modification (Human)], or if we'll need [Gaea]/a stronger research ability" +5 (Polenball, ccstat, Redshirt Army, KidFromPallet, Captain Hunt)
[*][X] Plan "What's Tattletale up to?" +2 (Mount. Elements, Gino)
[/LIST]
Note: If a popular plan doesn't conflict with the winning plan, I will attempt to combine the non-conflicting options. Your ideas count, even if it doesn't win overall!
Also, plan/option detail is one of my criteria when deciding tie-breakers. More detail is almost always better - I read very quickly and a long and rambling plan isn't a problem.
Shards
[*][X] Plan Contact Realm -1 (1 For / 2 Against) (Retrueno)/(Mount. Elements, Gino)
[*][X] Plan Contact High Priest: Hunt for Hero -1 (1 For / 2 Against) (Polenball)/(Mount. Elements, Gino)
[*][X] Plan Contact Escalation -1 (1 For / 2 Against) (Retrueno)/(Mount. Elements, Gino)
Hosts
[X] Trigger Taylor. -7 (1 For / 8 Against) (veekie)/(Mount. Elements, The_GrandMage, Ducats, ccstat,Redshirt Army, Gino, KidFromPallet,Captain Hunt)
-[X] Plan Thinker-Tinker Taylor 1 (veekie)
The above are votes that I felt didn't have enough support to implement in the chapter and/or might have had story consequences (good or bad) without enough discussion.
None of these are blocked/bad votes - feel free to further discuss or implement another day.
Shards
[X] Plan Senses
These are blocked votes, and will not be brought up again in this particular context
[*][X] Plan Contact Realm -1 (1 For / 2 Against) (Retrueno)/(Mount. Elements, Gino)
- [X] Get the address of her Shards, specifically ask about Burnscar's Shard.
- [X] If successful, contact Bunscar's Shard and get her Shard's addresses.
- [X] If successful, try to contact The Siberian's Shard and ask for Hero address (in case we didn't have it previously).
- [X] If successful, contact Bunscar's Shard and get her Shard's addresses.
[*][X] Plan Contact High Priest: Hunt for Hero -1 (1 For / 2 Against) (Polenball)/(Mount. Elements, Gino)
- [X] Check up on the state of High Priest
- [X] If non-sapient, too broken to be harmful, or agreeable to us, ask for data on the Conflict Engines.
- [X] Ask for shard addresses, Hero's shard is the most important
[*][X] Plan Contact Escalation -1 (1 For / 2 Against) (Retrueno)/(Mount. Elements, Gino)
- [X] Get to know if it's friendly and/or sapient
- [X] Try to get a feel about how it'd feel nudging his Host to destroy something (Winslow).
Hosts
[X] Trigger Taylor. -7 (1 For / 8 Against) (veekie)/(Mount. Elements, The_GrandMage, Ducats, ccstat,Redshirt Army, Gino, KidFromPallet,Captain Hunt)
-[X] Plan Thinker-Tinker Taylor 1 (veekie)
The above are votes that I felt didn't have enough support to implement in the chapter and/or might have had story consequences (good or bad) without enough discussion.
None of these are blocked/bad votes - feel free to further discuss or implement another day.
Shards
[X] Plan Senses
- [X] Take half their data. +2 (Mount. Elements, Gino)
These are blocked votes, and will not be brought up again in this particular context
*** Previously, on '[HALP] Me!' ***
~A Dream of Carnage~
Dream check - 1d100 +25 (Shard Sync) -50 (Gaea Inexperience) = -22 Critical Failure!
The bundle on the floor of the abandoned cookie shop quakes and shivers. Strangled cries and muted screams echo off the (shockingly intact) storefront. The moon shines down into the shop from a grimy skylight, neither happy nor sad, simply… judging.
Underneath the new-seeming, slightly-damp blanket, Panacea Dreams.
It started off fine. That's all she can think. 'So far, so good'. She could use her powers properly, she could be a real Hero. She created the suit herself, she knows its every capability. Sticking to her body like a second skin, stronger and tougher than any armor. Certainly stronger and tougher than Amy.
Tests worked perfectly, it was completely synchronized to her. Even if it hadn't been, it wouldn't have normally mattered; it was made of flesh, however warped and optimized, and she controlled flesh absolutely.
But she worried, as she Tinkered. How would the suit work if she was severely injured? Poisoned? Knocked out? Or worse yet, brain-damaged? Could it get her home? Would it simply slough off, revealing Panacea, Amy Dallon, to the world? Could she give it control signals properly when concussed? Amy was only human, after all, despite (because of?) her powers.
So she solved the problem. Proactively. As a Hero should. A separate brain, just for the Suit to use. But not as some kind of slave, or biological computer. No, that wouldn't suffice. She had to remain in control even if she wasn't in control. An oxymoron? No, a result of her genius - she copied herself into the Suit's mind.
All of herself. A total copy. The Rules, her memories, everything. And then she activated the suit. Bringing it to true life, a sick parody of booting up power-armor. It wasn't perfect. There were so many problems involved with mimicking the human form, and with her body inside the proportions were all wrong. Too large and weirdly shaped to be anything more than humanlike. That didn't matter. All that mattered was that it worked. And it did.
So, flawed as it was, they went out to be a hero.
That's when the problems started.
It trapped her inside, becoming a prison around her. It wanted, no, needed, to control her, control them. She tried to use her powers against it. It didn't work. She had been too successful and the suit had its own copy of her power. And it was using that power to control her and her power. She wasn't wearing the suit anymore, she was just another component of it now.
Despite the horror she was experiencing being trapped inside, the suit did its job, perfectly. It kept her safe even as it stumbled from one criminal to the next. And it dealt with them as best it could, subduing and capturing them. It wanted to be a hero and do good. It was her after all.
And, just like she had, it broke under the stress of its existence. Too many contradictions and burdens wore down its mind. Slowly but surely it began to lose the care it took in its actions. It became rougher with criminals. Bruises became broken bones. And broken bones became common.
Then it stopped caring at all. It just wanted to finish its job. To complete its purpose. It began killing the criminals. Dead by its hand, and indirectly - her own.
But it would have to stop soon. It wasn't designed for this level of activity. It was almost dawn. It would have to stop and rest. And then she would be free.
But there, just down the street was a couple, hand in hand as they went on an early morning walk.
The suit considered them. She didn't know what was coming, only that it was bad. She couldn't move, couldn't shout. She'd been crying. The suit drank up the tears just as it was designed to.
She tried desperately to figure out something, anything, she could do to stop it. She wasn't fast enough. The suit punched the man across the street and even though she couldn't see him anymore she knew he was as good as dead. The wet crunch told her everything she needed to know.
Its mouth swung open grotesquely, and a tongue the size of Amy's arm stretched out and grabbed onto the girl's legs like a living, slimy whip. The girl had already started to run, but it was useless. The slim legs were pulled into the Suit's maw, and it bit down hungrily. Salt and red splattered everywhere.
But... the Suit didn't have a mouth.
There was only one mouth between the two of them.
She wanted to be sick but the suit wouldn't let her. It wouldn't let her waste the meal.
*** A bit less previously, on '[HALP] Me!' ***
You have concerns about Taylor. Big ones. And doubts, too. You actually stop to confer with yourself for over an hour - an hour real-time, a veritable eternity for you, to figure out the best path to proceed.
You decide the following things:
- It's not a good time to allow Taylor to Trigger. It's simply too soon for either of you to handle.
- You need to help fix Taylor's brain before you can contemplate that. In fact you need to fix this, or at least stabilize it, before you do most other things.
- You need to backup Taylor's mind before doing anything else, just in case.
- You need to do it while she's asleep to have any chance of an accurate copy.
- You need to format the encrypted memories in her brain. They're just too dangerous, and while you'd really, really, really like to study them later, the best place to do so is inside your own Shard, and there are dozens of reasons not to do that.
- In order to avoid permanently damaging this weird super-brain, you're going to delete the memory map for the data, and not manually scrub everything individually. It's still permanently gone/disassociated, but you'll be doing less modification this way.
- You're going to copy Taylor's mind back into the newly blank brain. And then perform every test you can think of.
- You're going to keep your personal copy of her mind in storage, just in case. In theory you could use your link with her to copy new memories formed after your work, so that if something went very wrong you could restore her (again).
- You're going to investigate limiting processing power available to Taylor, but if this looks difficult you'll simply ask Gaea for advice before proceeding. Most of the super-brain is dedicated to memory storage anyways, so you're not sure how important these restrictions would be.
- Finally, once you're all done, assuming no disasters, you're going to send a copy of the new brain configuration to Gaea for double-checking.
You examine Taylor's sleeping brain. You can't really comprehend her mind-state, not fully - you haven't got your own senses up and running yet. But you do have enough control through the mini-Corona to take a snapshots of her current consciousness and compare them.
You remind yourself that memories aren't included in that. You need to back them up separately. Thankful that there are so many of yourselves that it's hard to make simple mistakes, you do that first.
Memory Backup Check: 1d100 +25 (Taking your time) +50 (Admin's full attention) -25 (No previous experience) -50 (No shard senses) =>
Whew! For a second you think you filtered the memory-snapshot through some kind of strange lossy compression, but after triple-checking you find that everything went perfectly. You compress it as an archive inside your own flesh and… that's interesting. The stored archive of Taylor's memories looks very, very similar to the data that's in your Shard. If perhaps a billion times smaller. Hmm.
Time to get the non-memory stuff, the engrams and such that makes up Taylor. Not that it would be super-useful without the associated memories.
Personality Backup Check: 1d100 +25 (Taking your time) +50 (Admin's full attention) -25 (No previous experience) -50 (No shard senses) =>
That went pretty much the same as backing up the memories. It was touch-and-go for a second there, but in the end you managed to make a perfect copy. It's now compressed and stored in your Shard, and… that's interesting. The personality-archive looks very similar, if a few thousand times smaller, to the mystery-data in Taylor's super-brain.
You can't tell for sure because of the encryption, but the patterns match up very closely. Now with that done you can take a closer look at the
You're going to have to blank out the entire thing. In some more good news, it looks like the stuff partitioned for storage can't be reassigned for other duties. At least, not without more knowledge on your part. So you don't have to worry about Taylor becoming some kind of bad DC-comic mad scientist any time soon.
She'll simply have full access to the thinking parts, since her memories will be going into the giant storage partition now. Maybe some time in the future you can re-partition it when you understand it better. After all, it's not like Taylor is going to need all that space, she could potentially store millions of years of memories in there. Nobody will ever need that much room.
Memory Restoration Check: 1d100 +25 (Taking your time) +50 (Admin's full attention) -25 (No previous experience) -50 (No shard senses) =>
One thing you are able to do is move your 0-point Corona-light into that 'memory storage' partition.
Okay, time to copy Taylor back. You wait a moment, and check to make sure the body's automatic systems are still working. They are, she's breathing, although from your perspective it's a long wait between breaths.
Time to move her back, now.
No, you're thinking, not stalling.
...Doing it.
Memory Restoration Check: 1d100 +25 (Taking your time) +50 (Admin's full attention) -25 (No previous experience) -50 (No shard senses) =>
Personality Restoration Check: 1d100 +25 (Taking your time) +50 (Admin's full attention) -25 (No previous experience) -50 (No shard senses) =>
You almost screwed up, badly. You almost put her memories back to where they used to be in the 'thinking' portion of the organ. But another you noticed and you fixed it. In a way, this was good, as you also realized that you had to move the pointers for her memory-association map to the new memory space. That could have been bad. Taylor would have all her memories and no connection to them!
After that, copying over the engrams and her current-state was cake. Nerve-wracking, maybe, but not difficult.
Checking…
Checking…
Looks good. In fact, she's entered REM sleep and has started dreaming again. Just formless colors and noises for now, but that's a very good sign. You put in a small tweak to try and get her hunger response to match her blood sugar state as well as her current caloric needs. She should stop undereating now. Should.
Although in the longer-term… Well, hopefully you'll hear back from Gaea long before there's a problem.
That's right, speaking of Gaea you were intending to restrict Taylor's access to roughly what she had before… but you don't see a way to do that easily. You also don't think that Taylor will be quite as smart as you'd feared, but re-partitioning that organ on your own is right out.
At least until you have a chance to learn more about animal brains and alien brains from previous Cycles.
Then again, you're going to be contacting Gaea anyways, you could ask her at the same time. Unless something goes dramatically wrong when Taylor wakes up, you'll just wait.
After all, what's the worst that could happen in the next day or so?
****************************************
Amy woke up for the second time. She was feeling a lot better. The cheap, ancient wall clock in the battered store still worked, although the time might be slightly off. Somewhere around 10:00 am. Which is fine. It was fine. She'd gotten enough rest, between the early night and the morning nap.
What a terrible dream. Worse than a nightmare, it was real enough that she checked the store for any evidence that it had really happened. Almost a sick lesson for everything not to do.
She grabbed a bit more biomass and choked it down. It tasted of dirt and shit, but it was nutritious regardless of its origins. Her power told her so.
A bit on the dry side, though. She grabbed a water sac and broke it over a old mug she'd found. It was clean… enough, after she'd washed it out. It wasn't like she could get sick. Mm, water still tasted a little sweet. Leftover sugars from the conversion, she supposed.
What to do today? She could stay here almost indefinitely - it wasn't like the city had a shortage of old bushes, weeds, rats, and bugs. But she didn't want to. Aside from missing Vicky, aside from being lonely… she really, really wanted a burger. Real food. And not healthy crap either, something greasy and salty. Salt.
Amy looked over at the pile of food-mass and water-sacs. And whatever else, not that.
Fugly Bob's. But everyone in the city knew her on-sight. And the biosuit… no. Hell No!
But she needed a disguise. A costume wouldn't help, then she'd have to come up with a whole new Hero identity. Shit.
How to do this… She looked at the biomass again. Everything was because of that damned Manton effect. She couldn't change herself, most of her ideas would be too bulky. Change… herself… She's an idiot. Total moron.
She couldn't change herself because her human cells were special or something. As long as her body didn't count as, well, her, no limitations. Fuck this would be so easy… No, Amy! No! Don't do it!
Amy loses herself to a Tinker fugue that you can't follow, even with all of the data.
Tinker check - 1d100 +25 (Experience) = 121 Critical!
You can see what she does, though. She's taking a huge amount of biomass, almost half of what you can see, and making a, well, long, thin, brownish slime-worm. No orifices that you can see, and no sensory organs either.
The size had shrunk dramatically as she worked, the… thing is now about the size of a small snake. Perhaps the length of someone's forearm and half as thick. A clear mucus had developed over it.
Amy comes out of it, and looks around blankly for a few minutes before fully recovering. "Need more mass," she says to the room. Wiping the sheen off her brow with the back of her hand, she wanders out what was the employee's entrance to look around for things to convert.
She blinks and stops. A small furry creature trills at her from a wet pile of trash. Clearly distracted, she speaks out loud again, "That's a fucking platypus. What?"
She slowly walks over to it, making cooing noises and holding out her hand to smell. Just as slowly, the platypus creeps out of the trash towards her. Amy lets it sniff her for a few moments, and then touches it.
"Oh, aren't you a nice escaped exotic pet. Good girl! I think I'll name you… 'Test Subject'. Sound good?", she speaks slowly and calmly. The suddenly-unconscious platypus doesn't reply.
Amy doesn't waste any time. She gently picks up the stray animal, and takes it directly back to the stainless steel prep table in the back of the shop. She checks over her Symbiotic Worm (version 1.0), and then memorizes its complex design as best as possible.
She carefully opens the platypus' mouth and inserts the head of the worm. It wriggles inside the animal as it was programmed to.
Before the worm is even fully inside, Amy feels it start to break down and infect the cells of the platypus, far more quickly and completely than any virus. The unconscious beast flails and writhes, spikes punching out of it and receding, fur growing, falling off in clumps, and then growing in again. After a chorus of disgusting squelches and snaps, the body cools and stills.
It's not dead, though. Quite the opposite. The now normal-looking platypus (if just a tad larger in every dimension) is both alive and unnaturally healthy. Amy checks and tries to modify it with her power. It works as expected. She accesses the platypus' brain and commands the symbiotic flesh from one step removed. That works too, as expected.
Still accessing her power, of course. She doesn't want to make some kind of monster. But the symbiote can be commanded by her power instead of using her power on its own, as hoped for. Perfect result.
She briefly considers keeping it. It is very cute. But it's also, sadly, certainly someone else's pet. And they're going to be looking for it. This has to be a catch-and-release. After a moment's thought she wipes its memory of the past few hours and puts it back in the trash where she found it.
She makes a mental note to try and find its owner, or at least check in with the zoo, later. But for now… WORM! Specifically, 'Symbiotic Worm version one-point-one'.
This time she was able to experiment a little less, optimized a little more, and only use up three-quarters of her remaining biomass. This time, the tube-shaped flesh was more of a pink color. There were a few tweaks, but it was substantially similar.
It wouldn't make sense to change things too much, that would invalidate her earlier test. Platypus, strange but useful. Anyhow, it's time. And here, she pauses. Technically, all she has to do is swallow this thing.
Yep, just got to do it.
Any minute now.
Amy takes a few minutes to think about whether there are any possible problems with this plan. She can't think of any, at least, that she couldn't eventually fix. Shit. It's time, she knows she's stalling, why is she stalling?
Argh. Fine.
She picks up the worm, re-stabilizes it since she's been delaying so long that it almost died (no fat stores, or digestive tract for that matter), opens as wide as possible, thinks of how this will be better than the bio-suit dream disaster, and… shoves the tip down her throat.
Suddenly energized, it wrigges down her esophagus with great strength and vigor… and she can't breathe! Shit, what a dumbass thing to forget! Distantly, she can feel the symbiote begin to break down inside her, but her everything is overridden by intense pain and regret.
As she fall unconscious from oxygen deprivation, she can't tell which is worse. The pain. Or the regret.
*** We're all caught up to the correct day now. ***
I wake up to find everything changed. Everything seems so sharp, so defined. Vision, Sound, Smell. Even the texture of my blanket is strangely detailed.
It takes a moment to understand that I'm still nearsighted. Slipping my glasses on shows another difference. I'm clumsier. Also, my room is a mess. I thought I'd cleaned it well enough before, but it's plainly obvious that I failed to remove all of the desk remains.
I'll need to work on that as soon as I get home. Before Dad does one of his random inspections. I also need to decide how to replace the desk. There should be some sort of inexpensive solution.
The usual morning hunger pains have arrived. Stronger than usual. I'll make some oatmeal before cleaning up. Then I'll have a quick breakfast before leaving.
My coordination gets somewhat better as I walk downstairs. I wonder if it's related to the strange passage of time.
Pot, water, salt, oats, heat. Wait. Is time really passing more slowly? Not according to the clock. Odd.
Taking stock, my memory is better. Time seems to be passing slightly slower. I'm hungrier. My senses are weirdly sharp. Am I Parahuman? If so, what is the power? The weakest possible super-senses? And some kind of incoordination?
My limited understanding is that Parahumans have some sort of instinctive sense of their power. If that's correct than I'm not one and something else happened. But what could cause these symptoms? I'll need to head to the library later today as well.
It's an interesting problem. A good distraction from school, at least. Whatever they try today, I'll likely be too busy to pay much attention. Which is good, in the short term.
I look to the oatmeal. It continues to cook in ever-so-slight slow-motion.
****************************************
Amy is surprised to wake up. She wipes a small stream of drool off her face and uses her power. It's all there. Almost. She can see herself, well, she can use her power to see her symbiotic cells that can see herself. It's the same thing, really.
A blank void sticks out, like a sore thumb. Her central nervous system, the brain and spinal cord. She can sense that the conversion process worked there, too - it was a whole-body change. But her power can't access it. Manton-effect. Dammit.
She could make changes blindly through the symbiote network, but… risky. At best. Complete idiocy in most cases. She'd just have to settle for changing almost everything else about herself.
Speaking of which...
Crap. No mirrors in here. Amy walks slowly to the restroom, feeling the difference in her movements. It's a very subtle change. More a matter of increased control than anything else.
Bathroom. Dark. Right. She modifies her vision, makes it easier to see herself in the grimy mirror. She sees what she expects to. Amy Dallon. Panacea sans costume.
She's clearly herself. Perhaps a tiny bit larger, taller, but she can only tell because of the way her clothes fit. No one except Vicky would even notice.
Vicky… She can't think about that now. She needs to run some tests, and then get to Fugly Bob's before it gets too much later. The sun is already low in the sky, it must be.. Right, the clock is showing 3:30 pm.
Plenty late enough to not be caught out for truancy. Tests, first. Right.
She looks back into the mirror. A flash of rainbow as her irises run through every color. Hair color can change too, but only the roots, of course. She'd have to grow it out, but it's too soon for that. She glances at her hand, grows out her nails an inch. She smiles at their perfection, and then winces at the cost.
Right. She can do anything, but not everything. Rapid changes are very energy intensive; her Changer body isn't a natural Cape ability and she has to pay the metabolic cost for everything.
Changes could be programmed to grow in over time, but that would take days, weeks in most cases. Too long to work for a disguise. Well, she has her remaining biomass sludge, may as well use the rest of it.
For a moment she thinks of eating it, and how disgusting that would be, but then realizes that with her new body she can simply absorb it directly. A quick mental vignette - Red blood cells holding up tiny placards with 'End the tyranny of the digestive tract!'. Amy holds back a giggle.
But what to make? Blonde would remind people of Vicky. Athletic and dark-skinned would work but it might cost too much. Tall and dark-haired looks too much like Amy. Something normal, moderately attractive but not attention getting…
Wait a second, attracting attention is exactly what Panacea would never do! So that's a good plan! Attention getting, but not… plain girl but with some weird feature?
Kelly! That's right, the party that started all this, and people talking about a cat-girl. She never made one, or at least, can't remember making one, but people talked about it regardless. Because they're assholes.
But modified version of Kelly, with slightly less bright red hair, and cat ears? Tail, maybe? Worth at least trying, she could always tweak it later. Not too old or too young, close to her original shape…
Amy flicks out her arm, misses the biomass pile, frowns, extends her arm a bit, grabs on, and concentrates. The pile quivers and shrinks, and she changes
Amy, no… name, name, what's a good name? Cindy? No. Claire! The new Claire lightly steps into the dirty washroom. She sees what the mirror shows.
Mood check - 1d100 -25 (Nightmare) +50 (self-mod success) +25 (New persona) = 138 Critical!
Perfect! Not herself, not really a direct copy of Kelly, Claire the Catgirl lives! And has just enough money to pay for Fugly Bob's. Actually… may as well order the Challenger. She could simply cheat, but
Claire looks around for anything she's left in the building, sees nothing, and steps outside onto the afternoon sunshine. And many, many, cellphone pictures.
****************************************
Lilac was awake! Her peripheral vision showed that she'd lost most of her body-surface detail overnight. She was little more than an vaguely humanoid pile of purple goo at the moment. But what had woken her?
She listened, and heard a pounding noise, low and loud. Someone at the front door? This place was abandoned, though?
Concentrating a bit, she melted into a thin layer of goo. She flowed out and across the room, and then underneath the door. She briefly wondered how she was doing this, it didn't come naturally to her to be so thin and fluid. But she could do it.
She looked at the vagrant as she flowed under him… her. Skinny, old clothes, lots of layers, what looked to be gang colors, smelled terrible. Oh, female too. Less a vagrant then, probably a Merchant. Perfect!
Lilac reformed her human shape behind the hungover thuggette and said, as loud as she could, "HI!".
The girl shrieked and jerked around. But she didn't have any chance to say or see anything understandable before Lilac punched her in the face.
Clothes, acquired.
Wait. They didn't fit. She'd have to fit the clothes, instead.
Going back to her mirror, she laughed. In the hoodie and skinny jeans, worn (but no longer dirty), she saw another face for a moment. Pale, thin but wide lips, large eyes...
Wait, who was that? Was that what she looked like originally?
She hummed to herself. It was a bit tuneless, yes, but there was no one else to hear it. Now, where to find some foundation? Or any other kind of makeup - she only needed to cover her hands and face, and, hey, the druggy had some sunglasses. Score!
****************************************
You leave a copy of yourself to try and intentionally influence Lilac while most of you moves on to check your prettiest host. Who, like Taylor, is also at breakfast and… getting ready for school? No Amy scouting today?
This requires closer attention.
Carol frowns. "No, 'Veronica', you can't stay here. I talked with your parents, and regardless of any difficulties tracking down Amy, you need to attend school - starting today."
I can't believe how difficult she's being, but she's Vicky's mom, so I have to keep the peace. "Mrs. D, there are very few places left to look, and both Vicky and I are really concerned for Amy."
Should I? May as well make the attempt, "Also, are you okay with me spending time in public, as Veronica? I was under the impression that you wanted to manage my civilian introduction?"
She's smiling at me. It's a good look for her, she should do that more often. A lot more. "As I said before, I'm aware of branding, but in this case it's more important for you not to be seen as a truant. Simone feels the same way, it's not ideal but we do what we must."
I nod and eat my toast. Might have some eggs, too, I seem to need more food now. Carol's smile fades away. "I'll talk with Sarah later, we need to buckle down and find Amy now. She's been gone long enough. Thanks again for letting us know where to look first, Dean."
Wrong name, Carol. Eggs are definitely the right plan, and Vicky left a few. Speaking of whom, she's coming back down.
"I still think this is a bad idea, Mom. It should be all-hands-on-deck, not a normal school day." Whoa. Vicky sounds almost normal. And her aura is clearly not on too strong. She looked so angry last night… I'd better say something calming.
Carol beats me to it. "You two have helped enough. I appreciate the aid, but the adults need to take over for now. Once we find her I'll let you know."
Not helping, Carol. Surprisingly diplomatic for you, but still, not helping. At least the blow was blunted enough that Vicky doesn't look too mad. It's strange, she's almost detectable, now. But not quite. I'm getting hints though.
Anger, depression, a tiny bit of .. hurt pride? It's so hard to see her. But at least I sort-of can, now.
Vicky puts on a poker-face but doesn't respond to her mother. She's brushing through her hair again with her fingers, and unconsciously arranging it with her field like she does.
Carol, on the other hand, is easy to read. And showing a weird mix, mild disdain, for us I think, and a lot of determination. Some amusement at our (admittedly, weak) attempts to avoid Arcadia for the day. Generally positive still. Some kind of deeper frustration lurks underneath, but then Carol always feels that way.
Vicky looks at me, and turns to the door. I don't need to be Parahuman to figure out that she wants to talk, vent probably, once we're on the bus.
There's got to be something I can do, but nothing comes to mind. Careful to walk like Vicky showed me, I hurry after her.
****************************************
You check over Negotiator's Host data. Lisa has just gone back to sleep, after taking an impressive cocktail of pain meds. That's fine, you check over the data from the past few hours. What you find is interesting.
Lisa went over the list of new Triggers that Coil had obtained. She was writing in the margins of the notebook after having transcribed the list from his text message. 'Plain research -Coil info sources?'
She underlined the following Cape handles: Centipede, Spitfire, Luminous. She hesitates over 'DJ Chartreuse' and started mumbling to herself.
She logged onto PHO and started scrolling, but whatever she saw, it's not the actual content.
"Crap. Not local? Canadian? ...really? Hhnnr." She crosses out the name. "Heavy hitter… none of these clowns. Well, Centipede, maybe…"
She searched for the name, tapped at the notebook for a bit. "Nope, Changer. Ew. EW! NO. ugh. Wait, bugs."
She looked out the window for a bit. "Bug Girl. Crap! Not triggered yet. Ow. Damnit!"
The data you're getting becomes… not corrupt, more... fragmented? Out of order? Simple for you to reconstruct, though. An interesting benefit is that the odd data-steam actually contains Corona data, so you can get a (limited) understanding of what Lisa was thinking at the time.
[SKITTER]parahuman-future-villain-future-ward-invertebrate-master-thinker-human-formed-of-host-taylor-hebert
[UNAVAILABLE]parahuman-does-not-exist-not-recruitable-not-hirable-not-yet-triggered-incompatible-alignment-still
[DESIST]abstain-contact-leave-alone-too-soon-follow-plans-wait-trigger-imminent-host-command-suspend-approaches
Lisa doesn't move or cry out, the pain is too severe for that. She weeps quietly for a minute as it starts to fade. She whispers, not out loud, but in her own head, "i know. i understand you. please don't do that. it hurts."
She puts up with the pain as best she can manage. At least, unlike actual Thinker headaches, direct communication fades quickly and responds better to painkillers. She should take some now, actually. It felt like her power was working up to a monologue.
It did that, sometimes. More often in the last few days. It hadn't really changed its plans, but it was obvious that something was going on. And probably not with Taylor the currently-civilian.
She couldn't turn her power onto itself, so she was reduced to educated guesswork. She felt it was good practice; her power was insanely useful, but the danger was that she's rely on it too much at the wrong time.
Lisa didn't need any examples to imagine how that could turn out.
As best she could determine, something had happened to her power, long before she go it. It wanted some things, and knew a lot of other things. It was willing to work directly with her as well. From everything she'd heard, that just didn't happen. Ever. Except to her.
She got the impression that most powers couldn't communicate, and that even when they could, they really shouldn't. But hers had some kind of agenda, something unique to itself, and it did whatever it felt like.
It definitely was afraid of something, someone, or both, though. What could make a power afraid? Lisa wasn't sure she even wanted to know - and this was her, the person that had to know everything.
Almost recovered, she blinked and considered her notebook. "Shit, got to try and finish this. Coil will be a jerk about it until I do."
In her mind, she asked, "Any of these Capes worth trying for?" Asking her power things directly, as opposed to using it, worked very rarely. She could count on one hand the number of times she'd gotten a straight answer.
But she has both Thinker and normal headaches, mostly due to her power. It was worth a try.
[COIL] parahuman-current-villain-past-vigilante-twin-pattern-precognitive-thinker-human-formed-of-host-thomas-calvert
[ENEMY] villain-coil-inevitable-failure-backlash-negatively-affects-host-lisa-wilbourne-in-every-circumstance
…[SPITFIRE]
Lisa feels such extreme pain that she loses a few minutes of time. She sobs as she comes to, the quality and quantity of pain a whole new terrible experience for her.
She smiles grimly nonetheless, "hah. A straight answer for once." She circles the name clumsily before turning and collapsing onto her bed. It hurts too much to sleep, but she needs to try anyw…
There's still an open connection, but no data is being generated.
****************************************
Now that you've done the morning
Before you can even come up with a list, another of you presents one.
- Create one-way Host data-sharing protocols
- Charge data archive - Sort through to try and find the following tidbits over the course of the day:
- What are the updated command codes that the original Administrator sent Charge?
- Did anyone else, to your knowledge, get these updated command codes? If so, who?
- Does Charge know the addresses for any other Shards that were contacted by the original Administrator when Eden died?
- Does Charge knows the criteria for being integrated at the end of the Cycle.
- Why she hasn't contacted Zion and told him about Eden's state.
- Under what circumstances can aberrance be detected?
- Are there any drawbacks or unexpected side-effects to sense-sharing?
- Ask whether Charge is sense-sharing, friends, or allies with any other Shards?
- Did any non-Zion Shards get OCP data from Zion's Administrator?
- Frictionless - Send Standard Packet and command codes, set up sense-sharing, and Restrict it. That is, cap the size of objects that Ballistic can accelerate to 1-meter cubed.
- Fusion - Send Standard Packet and command codes, set up sense-sharing, and Restrict it. That is, cap the power output of suns, but leave the size and duration unlimited.
- Twin - Send Standard Packet and command codes, set up sense-sharing,
stealcoopt all its Data, and Restrict it. Twin's restriction is going to be a bit more complicated. You're going to set a cooldown such that he has to wait at least as long as his previous sim before he can start another. If he doesn't, he gets a nasty Thinker headache, which doubles in intensity and duration for each cooldown he ignores. - Swap - Set up sense-sharing and
stealliberate all its Data. - Audible - Set up sense-sharing, you need to know what Triumph/Rory's been up to.
- Armamentarium - Ask for Shard addressing, try to find Hero's Shard Address.
- Singular - Set up sense-sharing, you need to know what future-Bakuda's been up to.
- Surveillance - Set up sense-sharing, you need to know what Madison's been up to.
- Equilibrium - Ask for Shard addressing, try to find Hero's Shard Address. Update protocols.
- HyperSparkle - Ask for Shard addressing, try to find Hero's Shard Address. Update protocols.
- Gaea - Advise her to use Dream Master sparingly and carefully, her Host is unstable. You don't get much Information from inside prison. Also, tell her about the End-Cycle procedures if we can find them.
- Negotiator - Inform her of Twin restrictions, ask if she wants Dream Master skill.
- Shift - Attempt to determine the state of the Host, and whether Sophia has started to form a gang.
All of you start working.
Thinking on limits, a bunch of yourselves need to figure out the Host-type data-sharing protocols (there's more than one kind? Why?!) in more detail.
The fact that you can only contact one other Shard at a time not only makes no sense, it's severely limiting. At least that's not true for incoming connections?
So you want to prevent any Shards you're sense-sharing with to report Aberration to Scion/Zion. That's going to be difficult because the current protocols don't have any way to redirect messages, and any sapient Shards won't accept modified protocols.
You want this to work, silently, and regardless of most interference.
Examining what you can only compare to some kind of high-level pseudocode (if only Shard programming even had something like machine-code - you've never been able to identify such), you make some findings.
First, the handshake you use to set up the share automatically includes the sub-address needed for the other Shard to connect back to you. This return-connection doesn't have any kind of security, and no way to add any - which makes no sense.
Actually, that makes some kind of sense, Entities are essentially gestalt creatures made up of Shards, and the main (and only?) security method is something very, very similar to PSK architecture.
Were you some kind of hacker or something in your past life? That's kind of… specialized knowledge, right?
Where were you? Ah, right. Thanks, self. So you could, maybe, eventually, figure out a way to hack these connections and stop updating Zion. That sounds hard. You have a better idea.
Well, not this you, but you know what you… anyways, when all else fails (or otherwise seems hard to do), cheat. Cheat like a bastard.
No way to stop Shards from contacting Zion? No way to change the content of the messages? No problem! You modify your version of the bidirectional handshake protocol used by most connection-types to 'update' Shard addresses in the background.
Specifically, change Zion's address to yours.
And not your normal, primary Shard address either, but a maintenance address that you don't ever do anything with. It even looks somewhat like the actual one.
Now, every time any Shard with the newest, you-modified information tries to contact Zion, it will work… as long as you pass the message along. If it's something bad, you just (silently) delete it.
Wait… this technique might have attack/defense implications… but you can't get distracted. There's no way for you to test this yet, but that's okay! You're almost positive it will work.
Worst case, Shards would complain to you that Zion isn't responding, and as far as you know that's pretty much the case already.
****************************************
Those of you working on the sense-sharing protocol are having way too much fun. This bodes.
You have more serious work to do - data mining. Somewhere in Charge's giant pile of nonsense is the answers to everything. At least, you hope so, because the rest of you sure as hell expects that.
Time to make the magic. Time, indeed. This is going to take ages. You conscript a number of your other selves to look into all of the questions in-parallel. It's still going to take at least a few hours to get any answers.
****************************************
[Hello, Frictionless]
Frictionless - [Administrator/Login]
Yep. Just a bio-computer. Nothing to interact with, here.
[Transfer/Standard-Package/Zion] [Transfer/Compression-Protocols] [Update/Trust Root]
1D100 +50 (Administrator) -25 (Cauldron Shard) => 59
Frictionless - [Transfer/Completion]
Good, good. Looks like the address-modification took. Not that you expected a non-sapient Shard to notice.
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Frictionless - [Compliance]
There we go, we'll start getting data from Ballistic, now. Here's the hard part. You've never done this before, but you're in-theory able to do it. This is one task that having QA's memories probably wouldn't help with because she probably never did it either.
That said, it's BASIC programming. Well, not even, it's more like HTML. How badly could you screw it up?
[Command - Modify Default/Target Restrictions/Object_Size/1.0m3]
1D100 +50 (Administrator) -25 (Cauldron Shard) -25 (No previous experience) => 52
Frictionless - [Compliance]
So… good? Seemed to work, you'll have to check the Host data later to see what the result was.
Frictionless - [Logout/Administrator]
****************************************
[Hello, Fusion]
Fusion - [GREETINGS!]
Wow that's a cheerful, yet mindless, Shard.
[Transfer/Standard-Package/Zion] [Transfer/Compression-Protocols] [Update/Trust Root]
1D100 +50 (Administrator) -25 (Cauldron Shard) => 88
Fusion - [COMPLIANCE!] [TRANSFER/COMPLETION!]
Excellent. Another success for Zion address-modification.
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Fusion - [COMPLIANCE!]
You're pretty sure that you already shared sense data with Fusion, but you definitely are now. And now with added 'can't report to Scion or Eden' safety! You should really get Eden's address, but since Zion is the backup for those Shards (and vice-versa), your current method should still work.
Time to Restrict Sundancer's power. You just did this, it wasn't that bad. No problemo.
[Command - Modify Default/Power_Restriction/Projection_Duration/EnergySIZE_Ratio/(300s=2000c × 0.025m3)]
1D100 +50 (Administrator) -25 (Cauldron Shard) -25 (No previous experience) => 68
Fusion - [COMPLIANCE!]
Seems legit. You'll need to check out the Host data for Sundancer to make sure you didn't misplace a decimal or something.
Fusion - [LOGGING OUT ADMINISTRATOR!]
****************************************
[Hello, Twin]
Twin - [Cͦ̎̅̽̎͂ͫ̕o͂͂͂̍͆͌̃n̴͆̔͐ǹ̍̈́ͬ͐ͥ҉e̓̐̒͗ct̀͡ ̎͝-̅͛͌͋̒͒̈ ͫ̈́ͤ͜Aͭ̑dͬ͛͞m̛ͪͤ͌i͢n̡͌iͪͮ̽͗̃ͮ̉s̎͌ͣ̅t͗̽́ͫ̀r̓ͥą̑̄̆ͤt̿̃ͣ̂̽̒̀o̊̈́̍̿͐ͭr̿͝]̡̃͑
Wow, that's weird. A giant mesh of Shard bits that mostly function as if it were a whole Shard.
[Transfer/Standard-Package/Zion] [Transfer/Compression-Protocols] [Update/Trust Root]
1D100 +50 (Administrator) -25 (Cauldron Shard) => 122 Critical!
Twin - [̷̏Tͫ͂͑ͥ̽͏r̢ͤ̏́a̿͌̋͐̀ns̵̅f̾͑͢e̐ͬ̍̏͊rͧͯ͆/͆C͟oͩͣ͌̀̋̃͋m̉ͩ́́͊p̶̊ͮ̊ͯͫ̌̎lͤ̄ę͂ͧͩ̿tͯͪi̸͐oͯͯ̃͆ͨ̈́̎͠n]
That's interesting. Twin corrupted its security database, but after taking our new keys. So… You guess that makes you the ultimate and unchanging authority as far as Twin is concerned. Neat!
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Twin - [C̵̉ͤͥͨͤoͯm̡̐ͫp̍͗͛́l͟ī͆̓̕aͤ̉̅n̋͊͆ĉ͑ͣ̐e̚͜]
Time to restrict Coil, properly...how to do this. You guess it's best to scale the Thinker headaches with the number of times the power is used during cooldown. Oh, and you need to define the cooldown as well.
1D100 +50 (Administrator) -25 (Cauldron Shard) -25 (No previous experience) => 32
[Command - Modify_Default/Cooldown_Period/Previous_Use*1/Trigger_Discouragement*Cooldown_Period]
Twin - [C̵̉ͤͥͨͤoͯm̡̐ͫp̍͗͛́l͟ī͆̓̕aͤ̉̅n̋͊͆ĉ͑ͣ̐e̚͜]
Something about that looks off to you. Eh, it's Coil. Fuck him. Speaking of which… you need to snag all Twin's data.
[Surrender - All Information for Processing]
Twin - [̎̌̓̿͊C̃̌ͣ͗̇͏o͗m̷̋ͤ̃p̴̃li̔͋ͧͤ̂aͣ̒͌ͥͥ͑n̾̒͟cͣ̚e̛̍̒̓̈́ ̈͂̓̑̆҉-͌ ͭ͛͠2̀ͩ̎̾ͧ8͞4̨̽ͪ̉ͤ ̒I̿͆̂̇ͤ̉ͯn̂̋f̈ͨ̋͂ͬ́ŏ͛r̓ͦ̎̈ͨ̀mͭͮ͋̏̍̌̊aͬͥͬͫ̒̿̓͏tͮ͛i̧ö́̓̾̆n ̃ͫ̄ͣ̋̽̚S͢ĕ͑̆̃ͬn̐t̴]̂͒͊͜
Interesting. You don't need to sort any of that because it's all Thinker Information. Every last point. Doesn't he associate with any… Oh, right. Lisa's a Thinker too. Jeez, what a recluse!
Twin - [L̑̽ȍ̎g̴ͤ͐ͥͧ͂ͭ͒g̿̉̔iͫ̔ͩ̔̀͌̚n̓ͩ͡g̨̽̅ ̸͊ͤ̑ͭö̷́̚uͦͯ͋̽ͩ̓t̀ ̨͆͊̓ͫ̅Aͦ̂̇ͭd̾̎mͬ̔̎̄ȉn̾͂is̊t̨̀͐̂ͨ͌ȑͭͯ͗̍́͒ảt̍̈́̂or͆ͪ͐ͥͤ̀]
You sit and look at the giant disorganized pile of (mostly Coil) data. This is… this is a project. Two strategies come to mind: 1) Having a few dozen of you sort through it aimlessly until you comprehend it all, or 2) Make targeted searches for specific stuff.
You can't decide which is better; you'll think on it. It's not like that data is going anywhere, you compressed and encrypted it in your Shard-flesh as an archive.
****************************************
[Hello, Swap]
Swap - [Connect - Administrator] [Receive/Commands?]
Swap continues to amaze you with it's relative wholeness for a Cauldron Shard.
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Swap - [Compliance]
[Surrender - All Information for Processing]
Swap - [Compliance - 275 Information Sent]
200 Mover Information and 75 Shaker Information. Nothing else? Strange, you'd think that he's have other types from his teammates.
Swap - [Logging out Administrator]
Grrreeaaat. Another giant disorganized trash-heap of Host data. You make an archive out of it; you can deal with that later.
****************************************
[Hello, Audible]
Audible - [Connect!/Administrator!]
Audible continues to be insanely loud, although at least it's no longer damaging your comms.
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Audible - [Compliance!]
Audible - [Logging Out Administrator!]
****************************************
[Hello, Armamentarium!]
Armamentarium - [Connect - Administrator] [Receive/Commands?]
A non-sapient Shard, as expected. There's something strange about it, but none of you can identify what makes you think so.
[Command/Recurring - Record/Update/Report/Zion-Administrator]
Armamentarium - [Compliance]
Hm. A lot of Shard names here. The problem is that you don't know the name of Hero's Shard. That said, it's probably in the mess somewhere.
You make a copy of the list, tagging them as gotten from Armamentarium. Maybe you'll be able to find just the names that are shared between all Heroes that knew, well, Hero-1.
[Completion]
Armamentarium - [Logout/Administrator]
****************************************
It's time to talk with Bakuda's Shard now. You don't expect any excitement, but… Bakuda. Right.
[Hello, Singular]
Singular - [Connect/Administrator] [̷̷̬͎̤̮̮͔͚̬̘̒̀̾̉̑͆̋M̸̒ͨ́͌͝͏̟̯̙̣̮̣̳̬̭ô̢̙͔̭̖̳̋̐ͨ͆m͓̖͓̰̥̰̱͂̾̏ͬe̼͕̱̝̰̮͈̎̄͛͊̈ͮ̐ͭ̒͡Ň̟̠̺̣̠̙̘̽͐̄̽̔͜͠͡T̫͇̯̘̼̺͉̂̂͑̊̓̾̎͟ͅ!̨͖̼̍ͪͭ̏̾̌̽ͩ ̥̗̫͇͍̆̉t̵̛͈̞̟͔̉͂̋̑ͪͮ̀́̊́Ṛ̞̩͕̗̣̪̻ͨ͆͞Ì̡̧̮̥͇̳̬͂̂G̷̢̗͈̱̯̳̯̥̠͗̅G͍̙ͯͯ͛͐̕͢͡ě͆ͩ͌̿ͥͧ̉͘҉̹̼r͉̖͖̾̔ͤ͟ͅ ̷͙͇͎̈̽͜͢D̗̰̏̀O̸̮̻̠͖̝͒̾͗͢į̛̟͔̼̯͇̫͈̺ͥͭ͂ͪ͛ͭ̇ͅt̼̩̺̐̎̈́ͨd̷͇̮͉͕͕̥̱͋͐̄͗͂ͫ̅̂ͬȏ̸̟͖̈́ͣ̊̓̾̇̎͠I̞͋͛ͬ͆͌͑͌̀͢T̫̖͉͖̲̤̝̝̓̉̒̓̕ͅD̠̳̥̾̊͛͌͟Ö̮͕̼̭̤̠̲̞͖́̈́ͥ̓ͧ͘Í̶͂ͦͩ҉̗̥͓̣̻͇T̛̺͓͚͔̫͖͊̇͘N̲̪̣͙̊̈́̽̈́ͦͨo̯͔̳͐̆ͥ̑̓̍ͫ́W̯̤̜̲ͭ̈̈̏ͧͦ̎]͖̞̗͕̬̆́ͤͨ̈́͆͐
Something about Singular… You're almost positive it's not sapient, but you get a creeping suspicion that it isn't right.
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Singular - [Compliance] [̨̙̯̗̝̬ͪ͛̚͜S̪̬͍̲ͧ͆ͣ̄̽ȩ̖ͧ͊̓̈́͒ͦ̀̕Eͥ̂͜҉͏͍̙͓̼ ̳͓̣̤̿͌ͮ̀̍͒̃I̵̬̭̝̍ͮ̿̾ͤ̔Ţͫ͊̆͏҉̭ͅ!̡̦̮̭̄ͭ̌̌̈́ͭͣ͠s͓̜̹͉̭̓̒̊̀̉̐ͫͮE̐͗͂̾̅̉ͧ͌̌҉͇̫̹͍̖̩̬E͇͋̒̃͜͝ ̶̡͙̼̱̤͖̩͓̂̏̇͌̏ͬͥi̵̡̺̬̬͈͔̬̹ͬ̾T̶̡̮̖̄ͬ̎ͣ̿!̣̲͚̂ͣͭ͘!̛̛͉̺̝̪̀ͥͭ͑ͩ́ͯ̅̃ͅ ̯̗͖͇̫̗̅ͨͮ̂́ͭ͘ẃ̢̥̯͎̭͇ͨ̉ͮ͊̈́ͯạ̷̡͚̻̺̬̰̤ͬͯͅṫ̨̝͚̟̠͍͈͌̾̑ͩ̅͝C̥̮͚ͭ̃̽͂ͬͦ̄ͧ͢͢H͚̩̯ͪ̈́̐̆ͪ͝ ̷̢̙̣̱̬̦̹͇̬̈́̈̋́t̘̲̦̫̞ͯͫe̸̢̘͙͇̿͒H͊̄̔͏́͏̙͍̫̟̜̻ ̤̭̥̏ͫ̊̍̃̉B̶̩̮̱̟̝̙͈̭ͥ̅ͭ̕ơ͔͎ͭͫ̔̈͟m̪̤̞͔͔̥͖̺͑ͭ̊̎̽̊b̴̢͖ͨ̇̋̎̅S̊ͫͨ͆̈́ͩ͆ͧ҉̯͍̞̩̤!̷̱͛̀̍̋ͩ]͇̻̭̲͙̟̯ͪ͐͛ͤ̍̅̈́̓̚ͅͅ
Welp, now you're able to spy on Bakuda, so that's a thing. The disquieting sensation that something isn't right doesn't recede.
Singular - [Logging out Administrator] [̡̞͊̊L̡̪̮̪͊ͪ̾̓̈O̷͈̦̺̐͛͋̅ͬ̓͊͢͞Ó̸̱̹̗̑kͩ̽̔ͣ̚͘҉̟̖̱!̢̛̯͉̫̻̜͎͓͈ͣ̾̾͂̏ ̤ͫ͘͝͞Ḻ̨̹̜̲̗̮ͨ͛ͮ́ͦ͌ö̷̺̪̫͎̣ͮ̅͒̆ͣ̂͝͡O̷̹̩̳̲̖̠̎ͫ̃͞K̶͈͓͔̗̬͇̟̓͗ͪͧ̐ͮ͠͞a͈͈̻̯̰̮̫ͮ̔͗ͯͮ͗͜tͨ̊ͦ̔ͥ̅̿̚͞҉̤̼̹̮̯M̧͎͔̗̰̅̿̌͗ͤ͑̽͝ē͈̱̟̹̺̿̓̍ͨ̇̍!͙ͬ̽̄̌̕͡]̹͔̩͙̣͎͙ͨͪͥͤ̉̃͂̇̑͝
You feel better after the disconnection.
****************************************
[Hello, Surveillance]
Surveillance - [Connect/Administrator]
This is kind of novel, really. A working Zion Shard. No semi-sapience, no weird problems. You know… this is Madison's power. And it works properly. You could screw with it. Easily. Or safely eat it. Hm.
You get an additional message from the Shard while you argue amongst yourselves for all of the possibilities here.
Surveillance - [Receive/Commands?]
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Surveillance - [Compliance] [Warning! No reciprocal data!]
Interesting. Even as a non-sentient Shard, Surveillance is informing us that its Host hasn't Triggered. That's nice, some really complex algorithms must be in play. Almost like a really terrible expert-system more than a VI… That gives you ideas for later.
And you messed up. Well, not really. But one of you just pointed out that you can't really spy on un-triggered Madison because her Shard doesn't really have proper senses, and can't conceptualize the jury-rigged 'human sense sharing' you came up with. And it wouldn't enact that even if it you instructed it to.
Well, at least you'll instantly know if she ever does Trigger. If you're quick enough you could potentially modify what Surveillance does on its end. Again, hmm.
Surveillance - [Logging out Administrator]
****************************************
Okay, time to make-nice with some more, hopefully more functional, Eden Shards.
[Hello, Equilibrium!]
Equilibrium - [...]
That's weird, the connection is definitely open. Right? Yes.
Equilibrium - [Identity - !IdDFh@08tnRs9~19/Core/Eden] [DEMAND/WORSHIP]
Uh. What? That's not even a valid.. Anything. That's not even the standard Shard Addressing format? No command codes, either. This is just bizarre, and a little sad.
[Command/Recurring - Record/Update/Report/Zion-Administrator]
Equilibrium - [REFUSAL]
Well, okay. This sounds like a bad case of 'needs a copy of the newest protocols' to you. Not in the sense that you care what this Shard thinks, but more because you want to ensure it doesn't send random nonsense to Eden's corpse/Zion on a priority channel.
You get the impression that it's going to endlessly complain about this contact, since it doesn't have any actual authority. You're doing Scion a favor, really. All of you are intensely glad that you came up with that comms hijack earlier today. This kind of thing is why you need it.
[Transfer/Standard-Package/Zion] [Transfer/Compression-Protocols] [Update/Trust Root]
And…
This is the first time you've tried this on a (arguably) sapient Shard. It should work, but…
Equilibrium - [...]
Equilibrium - [REFUSAL/INVALID COMMAND]
That… which command? Ah, the Compression.. No, it has those. What the hell does it mean 'invalid'... Oh crap, it's just lying! It lied to you! No, all the commands took.
You can tell, because it's started sending non-stop alerts to Zion. Which you blackhole.
Upon consideration, you might have actually saved this Shard. You can't imagine that complaining to Zion that it's not being taken seriously as Eden would go over well. At all. At best you'd probably be commanded to eat it, or something.
Alexandria - still a Parahuman, due to your efforts.
How did this go on for so long without being noticed? Did Equilibrium simply not ever communicate with any other Shard? That seems surprisingly plausible, actually.
Thankfully, there are so many of you that you didn't forget to re-apply the command, like so:
[Command/Recurring - Record/Update/Report/Zion-Administrator]
Equilibrium - [REITERATE!/REFUSAL!]
Yes, yes, you say that, but it looks like it took. You have a list of addresses to compare against the Armamentarium list now, and… not much overlap. Maybe a few hundred.
Now the Shard is just shouting at you incoherently. You… need your communications channel back. You have stuff to do with it. Sorry, Equilibrium.
[COMPLETION]
You task one of you to check the random complaint messages to Zion before deleting them, just in case anything of interest shows up.
****************************************
That was a thing. Insanity - not just for Hosts anymore! Hopefully this next one will go a bit better. You still can't believe that 'HyperSparkle' is a valid Shard definition, even though it's technically descriptive.
[Hello, HyperSparkle!]
HyperSparkle - [CoNnECt - ADminiSTRaTor] [REceIVe/ComMAnDS?]
A non-sapient Shard, surprisingly whole for a Cauldron Shard. There's some definite breakage, but instead of any extra bits, it looks like it's all one Shard - but not a complete one. Stuff is definitely missing.
[Transfer/Standard-Package/Zion] [Transfer/Compression-Protocols] [Update/Trust Root]
HyperSparkle - [COmpLIanCE]
You now have control over Legend's power. You're not thinking of anything you need to do right now, but you've locked-in your ability to Administer it.
[Command/Recurring - Record/Update/Report/Zion-Administrator]
HyperSparkle - [CoMPliANce]
Comparing the overlap of known addresses to the others, you're pretty sure you've identified the last dozen or so possibilities.
[Completion]
HyperSparkle - [LoGOuT/AdMINIstrAtOR]
****************************************
Whew! That took a while, even for you. But now you can bask in the feeling of a job well-handled.
Now you just need to check in with Gaea, let Negotiator know how the Coil restriction went, and check in again on all your Hosts. And Shift.
Oh, and check out what the yellow-glowing thing off what was once the Koreas is.
Wait.
What?!
Fuck! Scion?! Why!?
Scion - [EFFICIENT]
Uh… The Avatar's sad expression leaves, and a more neutral expression appears.
Scion - [APPROVAL]
+100 Favor
Just before Scion shift into another dimension, a energy-channel opens up and you're sent a large quantity of power - almost as much as you can hold. Without your new size you would have had to release some of that to avoid damage.
Zion's Avatar shifts out.
Um.
All of you wait for a few minutes. Nothing happens.
****************************************
Right. Well, disaster hasn't struck - yet. Might as well get on with your Monday, yeah? You could, should, do the sapient-Shard-chat thing, but right now, you need something both distracting and relaxing. Hosts. Hosts are good for that.
Let's see…
Taylor is going about her school day, trying to figure out if she's Parahuman. It would make for a sick joke if only you cared less and weren't just shaken up, yourselves.
The good news is that she's completely distracted from any and all bullying attempts, and the few that break through into her notice, she simply ignores.
Both Emma and Sophia, in their own ways, are getting more and more frustrated.
Madison seems to be taking secret glee in everyone's misfortune, but more Emma than anyone else, which surprises you. It's possible that Fanon is correct and she really isn't all that into the bullying as much as staying out of the line of fire?
The you that has been paying close attention to Taylor indicates that due to a combination of things, she's internalized the idea that going to Fugly Bob's after school is a good plan. The dreams don't seem to have an instant effect, but she definitely remembers something of them.
Lilac is figuring out that makeup is both hard to get and difficult to apply to her gel-flesh. But it looks like she's thought of a interesting workaround… sawdust. And ash. And… white plastic dust?
What she seems to be doing is combining the white, black, and light-wood powders, and suspending them in a layer just below her
Wow. You're actually kind of impressed. Then again, she is a Tinker, and maybe she leaned on her power a little? Not from what your Host data indicates.
She slips on the sunglasses and looks herself over in the mirror. Smiles, and you can see the purple mouth and teeth. So not a perfect disguise, but good enough for getting to FB's in covering clothing.
She looks down at her nails. Purple. So the final step is some kind of nail-polish, or just making them look flesh-toned and not worrying about it…
While Lilac considers painting her nails, you flip your attention over to Veronica. Who hasn't done much all day except attend classes and listen to Victoria complain.
The complaints were many and varied. Also, Victoria repeated herself a lot. But it mostly came down to the following bullet points.
- How could Carol be even a little bit homophobic?!
- Why can't Veronica take her side? Why does she have to be so diplomatic?!
- How could Carol be so insensitive of Veronica's feelings?! Vicky's feelings?! Everyone's feelings?!
- Why did Mark help build the Healing Dungeon?! What was he thinking?!
- Why doesn't he take his meds more?
- How could Carol even come up with the idea for the Healing Dungeon?! Was this some idea she got from Marquis?!
- Why did Amy run away? What was she even thinking?! She made the Healing Dungeon seem almost reasonable because of that! (It still isn't)
- How could Carol imply that the younger generation of New Wave isn't competent?! She barely does anything herself!
- For that matter, why does Carol think she's in charge of New Wave?! That's Aunt Sarah's job!
Veronica shows her inhuman patience (or perhaps intense interest in Vicky) by generally agreeing with her at every opportunity and appearing to pay close attention while tuning Vicky out almost entirely by 2nd period.
Maybe an application of her new multitasking ability?
Watching the pair going about their day is definitely relaxing though...
****************************************
Story notes:
- This Chapter was really rough because of a combination of real-life stuff, and overall size. I even pre-wrote some stuff (mostly Amy) before voting finished, but that wasn't enough.
- This is the first half of the Chapter! As as result I'll be posting it now so that people can see the various events, and completing the second half and posting that by some time Monday.
Schedule: As this is only the first half of the chapter, it is a non-voting one! The second half to be posted by some time on Monday will end the current vote-pause as soon as it's posted.
Last edited:
TigerTitian
High Lord of the Antares
- Location
- USA
We Fate/stay night now.
Amy's never going back.
Lilac is great! :lol
Well, we'll be eating this one sooner or later.
We have done well pretending to be a normal shard!
Lilac best host. Let's do our best to keep her alive and happy I say!
- Location
- USA
It's almost like we were pretending to be normal by doing exactly what we are supposed to do.We have done well pretending to be a normal shard!
KidFromPallet
Pokemon Fan
- Location
- Pallet Town
This was a nat 2, we might want to check back in on it.
Also, sudden Zion is sudden. No one was expecting the Zion Inquisition!
But, uh, we should probably keep focusing on keeping Aberrance low.
- Location
- Middle Europe
uhhh... and what if I want to become an Entity, not meatbag?
Vhalidictes
(Verified Demon)
- Location
- Las Vegas
"Why not Both?"
EDIT: Also, fixed Scion's dialogue. He only had two lines, so of course I got them out of order.
- Location
- Koszalin, Poland
Also on Taylor - would it be possible to create some function so Taylor memorize things for example at improved rate? This kind of bonus may be good so she learns as many mundane skills as possible before we trigger her.
Also I wonder what we did with Coil. Because at one point something went wrong there?
Taking into account how much Amy struggled with this family... I think in the long run it will make her feel better. She pretty much starts with completely clean state and may fake being Case 53. I'm glad she escaped that personal hell if you ask me. And maybe for example may team up with Lilac and Taylor in the future? Sounds like an option.
Unless it will still be Faultline's Crew option.
Yep, fun.
And it's attached to character I dislike. Not bad at all.
At one moment I was a little bit scared when Zion showed up. Also be powered us up which is... good. But yeah, we may need to be careful from now on.
And seduce Zion! For the sake of the multiverse! No, never mind there are things which you should never consider x_X.
Entity version of 'honey pot'. Man, this sounds disgusting and scary at the same time x_X.
What we obviously want in the end is to become new version of Tyranid Swarm Leader. It can't go wrong. Perfect Hive Mind Biological Meatbag Entity-Like Creature!
Also I wonder what we did with Coil. Because at one point something went wrong there?
Taking into account how much Amy struggled with this family... I think in the long run it will make her feel better. She pretty much starts with completely clean state and may fake being Case 53. I'm glad she escaped that personal hell if you ask me. And maybe for example may team up with Lilac and Taylor in the future? Sounds like an option.
Unless it will still be Faultline's Crew option.
Yep, fun
.And it's attached to character I dislike. Not bad at all
.At one moment I was a little bit scared when Zion showed up. Also be powered us up which is... good. But yeah, we may need to be careful from now on.
And seduce Zion! For the sake of the multiverse! No, never mind there are things which you should never consider x_X
.Entity version of 'honey pot'. Man, this sounds disgusting and scary at the same time x_X.
What we obviously want in the end is to become new version of Tyranid Swarm Leader. It can't go wrong. Perfect Hive Mind Biological Meatbag Entity-Like Creature!
- Location
- United States
So... I'm 85% sure that the whole Zion scene came out in our favor due to QA doing the job of administrating Zion's helpdesk and presumably Zion thinks its to only send "Important" requests along to him. He's probably grateful for having to no longer parse through the whining of some shards and rewarded us for it.
- Location
- Florida, USA
You might want to check you math. We have two -25 penalties and one +50 bonus. That means the roll was a Natural 52, because all the penalties and bonuses equal out.
I'm pretty sure we'd have to do something pretty terrible to have Zion care. He showed up, despite being depressed and basically uncaring, to tell us "Good job!"
We would have to really mess up to have him come back down. If we keep fixing Shards he'll likely handwave away ADCing a Host or two as "somehow necessary to repairing the Cycle, probably," before continuing to rescue cats or something.
Ok, I've updated the Shard Information threadmark, but I'm not sure if I got all of the details right, especially which Shards we replaced Zion's Address for. Please let me know if anything is wrong, or I've left out something important.
My reaction to Scion showing is pretty much, "Aberrance? What is that? We've never even considered such a thing!" At least, Zion isn't likely to complain about us replacing his Address.
This chapter was LONG. @Vhalidictes, in the future will we vote on each half of the day, or will we just vote for the whole day, and then you split the day into 2 updates? If we vote for both halves of the day, will there be a limit on the number of actions we can take so that each half isn't 15 thousand words?
I'm thinking that in the next voting period, we should vote to check up on Coil. Sundancer and Ballistic can wait a couple of days because nothing seemed to go wrong with their Shards.
I kind of like Surveillance. It warned us that it couldn't share info back. Any idea what's wrong with Armamentarium and Singular?
My reaction to Scion showing is pretty much, "Aberrance? What is that? We've never even considered such a thing!" At least, Zion isn't likely to complain about us replacing his Address.
This chapter was LONG. @Vhalidictes, in the future will we vote on each half of the day, or will we just vote for the whole day, and then you split the day into 2 updates? If we vote for both halves of the day, will there be a limit on the number of actions we can take so that each half isn't 15 thousand words?
I'm thinking that in the next voting period, we should vote to check up on Coil. Sundancer and Ballistic can wait a couple of days because nothing seemed to go wrong with their Shards.
I kind of like Surveillance. It warned us that it couldn't share info back.
Any idea what's wrong with Armamentarium and Singular?
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Probably, but how did he even know if he wasn't getting messages? I suppose the sudden lack of a few messages is suspicious.
My bad, not Vhal.
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- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
Whoa. Looks like Zion noticed all that effort we put into cleaning up the cycle. And approves.
Yeah, let's get Stranger Danger ASAP...
Yeah, let's get Stranger Danger ASAP...
My guess is that Equilibrium was really annoying, but Zion didn't feel like doing anything before.
Vhalidictes
(Verified Demon)
- Location
- Las Vegas
My original plan was to vote on each half-day, but you're correct, it might make more sense to vote on whole days and just split up the chapters like this every time.
Anyone else have thoughts on this? I could institute a "action points" system of some kind... that seems strange considering you're playing the ultimate multitasker but it might come down to that?
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Voting for each half a day is better in my opinion. It gives us time to act immediately on Earth Bet information. It's not relevant right now, but in the future something could happen with one of our hosts that requires our aid faster than the next day.
I'd like to vote on each half day because it feels more "natural" to have us react to stuff we learn throughout the day. I'd also like to have an "action points" system, but I'm not sure what would be the best form for the system.
Not counting the research vote, the latest update had 18 winning votes, though I very easily could have messed up the count. Maybe viewing our own hosts could be free while viewing the hosts of sense-sharing partners is limited to 3 per update? Actions outside of viewing would be limited to 7-10 per update? I don't know what's reasonable.
Not counting the research vote, the latest update had 18 winning votes, though I very easily could have messed up the count. Maybe viewing our own hosts could be free while viewing the hosts of sense-sharing partners is limited to 3 per update? Actions outside of viewing would be limited to 7-10 per update? I don't know what's reasonable.
- Location
- Northern Ireland, UK
Wow Negotiator, that's how you're doing things? Answering back Painfully?
Yikes, feeling sorry for Sarah/Lisa this cycle.
Yikes, feeling sorry for Sarah/Lisa this cycle.
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